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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. swing — music
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. swing — to play on
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. hand — in cards
  7. swing — in golf
  8. chip — for betting
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. march — the month
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. net — in sport
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. capital — a city
  16. march — the month
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. hand — help
  19. chip — to eat
  20. march — music
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. capital — money
  23. net — after costs
  24. nail — for a hammer

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