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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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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. swing — to play on
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. shower — to wash
  7. pop — music
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pop — soda
  10. swing — music
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. spell — a short time
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of a king
  15. spell — letters
  16. court — of law
  17. pop — to visit
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. swing — in golf
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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