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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 always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. swing — music
  5. field — a subject
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. content — happy
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. field — for sport
  12. swing — in golf
  13. last — finally
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. net — for catching
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. field — farmland
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. content — the amount
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. swing — to play on
  23. last — final
  24. last — to go 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