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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. wake — a trail
  4. band — a ring
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. ground — a position
  8. swing — in golf
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. swing — to play on
  11. file — a document
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. hand — in cards
  15. deal — to handle
  16. file — a line of people
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. ground — crushed
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. band — a music group
  22. file — a tool
  23. ground — the earth
  24. hand — help

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