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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 124 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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. stock — goods
  3. hand — in cards
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. swing — to play on
  7. row — to paddle
  8. craft — a skill
  9. swing — music
  10. row — a line
  11. stock — shares
  12. cold — not warm
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. hand — help
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. cold — an illness
  24. craft — boats

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