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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. kid — child
  6. chest — of your body
  7. swing — in golf
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. sharp — clever
  10. squash — the sport
  11. tear — from crying
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. band — a ring
  14. squash — to crush
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. stand — to bear
  18. chest — of your body
  19. kid — to tease
  20. band — a music group
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. swing — to play on
  23. chest — a box
  24. sharp — exactly

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