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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: band · bear · rock · lean · straw · bat · kid · swing

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. band — a music group
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bear — the animal
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. kid — child
  10. band — a ring
  11. lean — to bend
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. rock — music
  14. swing — music
  15. swing — in golf
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. bat — the animal
  20. lean — thin
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. rock — a stone
  24. rock — to move gently

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