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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. swing — in golf
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — in sport
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. sharp — clever
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. swing — music
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. swing — to play on
  16. wind — moving air
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wind — moving air
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. toast — bread
  24. tube — a container

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