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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. swing — music
  3. sharp — clever
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. ball — a great time
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. swing — in golf
  15. shower — rain
  16. cell — a phone
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. swing — to play on
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — the arms race
  21. cell — in biology
  22. race — a contest
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. sharp — with an edge

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