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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 124 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 coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. stock — goods
  3. swing — music
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. swing — to play on
  6. game — wild animals
  7. file — a line of people
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. rash — a series
  10. ground — a position
  11. game — a match
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. file — a tool
  14. rash — hasty
  15. pit — in a race
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. file — a document
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. pit — a hole
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — the earth
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. stock — shares

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