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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 116 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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468
Word bank
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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. swing — to play on
  4. kick — in football
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. wind — moving air
  8. face — to point toward
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. season — in sport
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. saw — the tool
  13. face — part of the head
  14. bear — the animal
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. face — to confront
  18. saw — the tool
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. swing — music
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. swing — in golf
  23. wind — moving air
  24. season — of the year

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