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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 120 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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. swing — to play on
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. board — a committee
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. net — for catching
  7. band — a music group
  8. tear — from crying
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. tube — the underground
  15. swing — in golf
  16. band — a ring
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tube — a container
  22. board — to get on
  23. swing — music
  24. net — after costs

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