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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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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: swing · present · trunk · cold · object · straw · pop · tear

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. swing — in golf
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. object — to protest
  6. object — a thing
  7. pop — to visit
  8. present — a gift
  9. swing — music
  10. tear — to rip
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. pop — music
  13. cold — not warm
  14. tear — from crying
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. tear — from crying
  18. swing — to play on
  19. cold — an illness
  20. present — the time now
  21. pop — soda
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. object — an aim
  24. present — there

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