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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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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: squash · rash · swing · tear · cold · racket · straw · date

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. swing — in golf
  4. swing — to play on
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. tear — from crying
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. date — the fruit
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cold — not warm
  15. squash — to crush
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. squash — the sport
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. rash — a series
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. cold — an illness
  22. tear — to rip
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rash — hasty

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