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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. swing — to play on
  3. race — humankind
  4. last — final
  5. race — a contest
  6. swing — music
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. face — to confront
  9. branch — a division
  10. court — of law
  11. race — the arms race
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. court — of a king
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. swing — in golf
  19. last — to go on
  20. court — for sport
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. face — to point toward
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. last — finally

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