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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. club — for golf
  3. sharp — clever
  4. pit — in a race
  5. pit — a hole
  6. club — a group
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. swing — music
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. swing — to play on
  14. row — a line
  15. swing — in golf
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. clip — a video
  18. club — for dancing
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — for paper
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. row — to paddle

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