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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: coach · squash · staff · straw · hand · wind · craft · swing

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. swing — to play on
  3. craft — boats
  4. squash — the sport
  5. hand — help
  6. wind — moving air
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. hand — in cards
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. squash — to crush
  11. wind — moving air
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. swing — in golf
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. craft — a skill
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. staff — employees
  19. staff — employees
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. swing — music
  24. craft — a handicraft

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