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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. wound — an injury
  3. swing — in golf
  4. swing — music
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. land — ground
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. root — the cause
  11. kid — to tease
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. root — of a plant
  14. swing — to play on
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. root — of a word
  17. land — a country
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. land — to come down
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. kid — child
  23. wound — an injury
  24. arm — part of the body

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