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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. cold — an illness
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. ball — a dance
  9. bass — low music
  10. cue — a hint
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. swing — in golf
  13. cold — not warm
  14. fork — in a road
  15. swing — to play on
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wind — moving air
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. bass — the fish
  21. cue — a signal
  22. wind — moving air
  23. swing — music
  24. cue — for pool

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