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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. swing — music
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. swing — to play on
  11. branch — a division
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. swing — in golf
  14. spring — a coil
  15. spring — of water
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. chip — to eat
  20. chip — for betting
  21. kick — in football
  22. march — the month
  23. spring — the season
  24. straw — a straw man

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