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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. pitch — completely
  3. swing — to play on
  4. capital — a city
  5. shower — to wash
  6. swing — in golf
  7. cold — not warm
  8. capital — money
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. wake — a trail
  18. swing — music
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. shower — rain
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — to tease
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. wake — before a funeral

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