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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: swing · wake · last · straw · stand · cold · branch · racket

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. branch — a division
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. swing — music
  6. swing — in golf
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. wake — a trail
  11. stand — to bear
  12. cold — an illness
  13. last — final
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. last — finally
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. last — to go on
  23. swing — to play on
  24. straw — a straw man

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