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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. swing — music
  3. present — there
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bear — the animal
  7. spell — a short time
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. present — a gift
  10. spell — magic
  11. spell — letters
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bear — the animal
  16. file — a line of people
  17. swing — in golf
  18. cell — in biology
  19. file — a tool
  20. present — the time now
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. file — a document
  23. swing — to play on
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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