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

Word bank: swing · straw · drill · date · cell · file

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. swing — in golf
  4. file — a document
  5. cell — in biology
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. swing — to play on
  8. swing — music
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. drill — the tool
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. date — the fruit
  14. drill — army training
  15. file — a line of people
  16. cell — a phone
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. file — a tool

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