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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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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fall — the season
  5. swing — music
  6. swing — to play on
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. wind — moving air
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. press — to push
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. chair — a leader
  13. fall — to drop
  14. shower — to wash
  15. swing — in golf
  16. fall — to drop
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. press — a publisher
  21. press — newspapers
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — rain

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