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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 120 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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. board — a committee
  5. ball — a great time
  6. board — to get on
  7. season — of the year
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. staff — employees
  10. hand — help
  11. ball — a dance
  12. staff — employees
  13. staff — a stick
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. file — a line of people
  16. swing — in golf
  17. file — a document
  18. hand — in cards
  19. file — a tool
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. swing — music
  24. season — in sport

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