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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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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: row · land · charge · fine · straw · bat · swing · cold

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cold — an illness
  5. swing — to play on
  6. land — ground
  7. bat — the animal
  8. charge — a price
  9. row — a line
  10. charge — electricity
  11. swing — in golf
  12. charge — in control
  13. land — to come down
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. row — to paddle
  18. cold — not warm
  19. fine — high quality
  20. land — a country
  21. fine — all right
  22. swing — music
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. cold — the Cold War

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