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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: pop · straw · spring · snap · calf · swing · drill · bat

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. drill — a practice
  5. pop — to visit
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. swing — to play on
  8. swing — in golf
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bat — the animal
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to click
  14. drill — army training
  15. spring — a coil
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. swing — music
  18. pop — music
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. spring — of water
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. spring — the season
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

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