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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. spell — letters
  4. club — for golf
  5. tear — to rip
  6. swing — music
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. capital — a city
  13. swing — to play on
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. ground — a position
  16. tear — from crying
  17. capital — money
  18. swing — in golf
  19. tear — from crying
  20. club — a group
  21. club — for dancing
  22. spell — a short time
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — before a funeral

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