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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. mine — for digging
  6. wind — moving air
  7. sharp — clever
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. shower — to wash
  11. swing — in golf
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. swing — to play on
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. wind — moving air
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. swing — music
  23. shower — rain
  24. sharp — exactly

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