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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wound — an injury
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. prune — to trim
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. swing — music
  15. press — to push
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. press — newspapers
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. press — a publisher
  20. mine — for digging
  21. bark — to shout
  22. prune — to trim
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. swing — in golf

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