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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. swing — music
  3. face — to confront
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. swing — to play on
  6. last — to go on
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. prune — to trim
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. last — finally
  11. last — final
  12. mine — for digging
  13. shower — rain
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. face — to point toward
  17. shower — to wash
  18. face — part of the head
  19. prune — to trim
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. sharp — clever
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. mine — an explosive

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