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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. root — of a word
  3. scale — in music
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. swing — in golf
  6. last — final
  7. band — a ring
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. pass — a permit
  10. swing — music
  11. root — of a plant
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. last — finally
  17. cold — not warm
  18. scale — size or range
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. root — the cause
  22. band — a music group
  23. last — to go on
  24. pass — to succeed

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