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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: date · toast · shower · game · swing · pit · scale · straw

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. game — wild animals
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. swing — music
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. pit — in a race
  8. game — a match
  9. pit — a hole
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. swing — to play on
  12. date — the fruit
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. shower — rain
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. scale — in music
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. swing — in golf
  21. scale — size or range
  22. toast — bread
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

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