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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 116 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: ground · straw · swing · wound · craft · spring · net · lie

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. craft — boats
  3. swing — to play on
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. wound — an injury
  6. spring — a coil
  7. craft — a skill
  8. ground — crushed
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. spring — of water
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. spring — the season
  13. lie — to recline
  14. net — after costs
  15. ground — a position
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. swing — music
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. net — for catching
  21. wound — an injury
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. ground — the earth
  24. net — in sport

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