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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: charge · straw · cold · chest · sharp · swing · spell · season

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. charge — in control
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. spell — letters
  6. season — in sport
  7. chest — of your body
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. charge — a price
  10. charge — electricity
  11. swing — music
  12. cold — not warm
  13. season — of the year
  14. swing — to play on
  15. swing — in golf
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spell — magic
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chest — a box
  24. sharp — clever

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