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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. swing — in golf
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. tear — to rip
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. court — of a king
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. wound — an injury
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wound — an injury
  18. swing — music
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. bat — the animal
  21. court — for sport
  22. wax — to grow
  23. tear — from crying
  24. swing — to play on

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