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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: straw · rush · ground · date · land · swing · hand · kick

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. rush — hurry
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. swing — music
  5. land — ground
  6. kick — in football
  7. ground — the earth
  8. hand — help
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. swing — in golf
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. land — to come down
  14. ground — a position
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. land — a country
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. date — the fruit
  21. ground — crushed
  22. swing — to play on
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. date — on the calendar

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