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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. swing — to play on
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. press — a publisher
  7. kid — to tease
  8. mine — for digging
  9. swing — in golf
  10. press — newspapers
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. track — a path
  13. last — final
  14. kid — child
  15. press — to push
  16. last — to go on
  17. swing — music
  18. track — to keep track
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. last — finally
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. straw — dry grass

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