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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — in golf
  4. squash — to crush
  5. squash — the sport
  6. swing — music
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. wind — moving air
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. game — wild animals
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. snap — to click
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. pound — a weight
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. game — a match
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. wound — an injury

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