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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. craft — boats
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. club — for golf
  7. cold — an illness
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. wind — moving air
  10. club — for dancing
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. craft — a skill
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. swing — music
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. bass — the fish
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. swing — to play on
  19. swing — in golf
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. club — a group
  24. bass — low music

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