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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. game — a match
  4. fine — high quality
  5. fine — all right
  6. date — the fruit
  7. game — wild animals
  8. swing — in golf
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. swing — to play on
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pass — a permit
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. swing — music
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. straw — dry grass

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