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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. swing — in golf
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. content — happy
  6. content — the amount
  7. swing — music
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a ring
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. row — to paddle
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. hand — help
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. rush — hurry
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. swing — to play on
  24. hand — in cards

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