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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. cell — a phone
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. swing — to play on
  7. cell — in biology
  8. swing — music
  9. swing — in golf
  10. staff — a stick
  11. staff — employees
  12. pound — a weight
  13. net — after costs
  14. net — in sport
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. shower — to wash
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. net — for catching
  20. shower — rain
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. staff — employees
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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