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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 116 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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bear — the animal
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. ground — the earth
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bear — the animal
  13. cell — a phone
  14. swing — in golf
  15. last — to go on
  16. swing — music
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. last — final
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. ground — a position
  23. cell — in biology
  24. last — finally

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