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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. court — of a king
  3. cold — not warm
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. last — finally
  8. file — a line of people
  9. court — for sport
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. file — a document
  12. firm — decided
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. swing — to play on
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. court — of law
  18. firm — steady
  19. file — a tool
  20. swing — music
  21. last — final
  22. firm — a company
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. last — to go on

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com