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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. swing — to play on
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. lean — to bend
  7. lean — thin
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. mark — a trace
  10. court — for sport
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. court — of law
  14. clip — to cut
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. mark — a grade
  17. clip — for paper
  18. swing — music
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. court — of a king
  22. branch — a division
  23. swing — in golf
  24. clip — a video

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