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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — in sport
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. ground — the earth
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. cold — not warm
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. swing — to play on
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. cold — an illness
  19. swing — music
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. ground — a position
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. swing — in golf
  24. ground — crushed

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