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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: cell · mine · wind · straw · wave · row · swing · snap

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. row — a line
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. cell — in biology
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. wind — moving air
  8. mine — for digging
  9. swing — music
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. snap — to click
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. swing — to play on
  19. cell — a phone
  20. swing — in golf
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. row — to paddle

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