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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. swing — music
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. ball — a great time
  7. swing — in golf
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. file — a tool
  12. wind — moving air
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. wind — moving air
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. swing — to play on
  18. file — a line of people
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. file — a document
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pound — a weight
  24. kick — in football

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