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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 116 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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. swing — in golf
  3. lean — thin
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. swing — to play on
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. hand — in cards
  9. swing — music
  10. file — a document
  11. hand — help
  12. lean — to bend
  13. season — in sport
  14. cell — in biology
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. season — of the year
  20. file — a tool
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. file — a line of people
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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