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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. swing — to play on
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. scale — size or range
  9. stock — shares
  10. ball — a dance
  11. swing — music
  12. ball — a great time
  13. fall — the season
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. stock — goods
  16. swing — in golf
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. fall — to drop
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. scale — in music
  23. fall — to drop
  24. kid — child

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