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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: fan · straw · kid · wound · last · swing · rule · net

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rule — a law
  3. rule — government
  4. net — after costs
  5. net — for catching
  6. swing — in golf
  7. last — to go on
  8. wound — an injury
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. last — finally
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. swing — to play on
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. net — in sport
  17. swing — music
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. wound — an injury
  21. kid — child
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. last — final

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