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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. content — happy
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. spell — letters
  5. content — the amount
  6. foot — a measure
  7. mine — for digging
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. swing — to play on
  10. rock — a stone
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. rock — music
  13. spell — magic
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. mug — a cup
  17. mug — a face
  18. mug — to rob
  19. swing — in golf
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. spell — a short time
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. swing — music

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