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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. race — humankind
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. shower — to wash
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — the earth
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. band — a ring
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. race — the arms race
  12. branch — a division
  13. shower — rain
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. race — a contest
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. swing — music
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. ground — a position
  22. band — a music group
  23. swing — in golf
  24. straw — dry grass

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