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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. net — in sport
  4. object — an aim
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. last — final
  7. swing — to play on
  8. net — for catching
  9. last — to go on
  10. spell — magic
  11. object — to protest
  12. stem — to come from
  13. season — of the year
  14. last — finally
  15. net — after costs
  16. swing — in golf
  17. object — a thing
  18. season — in sport
  19. spell — a short time
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. swing — music
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. spell — letters

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