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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mine · straw · chest · scale · swing · pass

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. mine — for digging
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. chest — a box
  11. swing — in golf
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. pass — a permit
  14. scale — size or range
  15. swing — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. swing — to play on

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