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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 120 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. swing — in golf
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. shower — rain
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. clip — for paper
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. clip — a video
  11. swing — music
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. bat — the animal
  15. tear — from crying
  16. shower — to wash
  17. swing — to play on
  18. tear — to rip
  19. clip — to cut
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. fork — in a road
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. fork — a garden tool

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