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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. snap — to click
  5. rash — a series
  6. date — the fruit
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. clip — a video
  9. bound — obliged
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. pitch — completely
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — for paper
  14. rash — hasty
  15. shower — to wash
  16. swing — music
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. swing — to play on
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. bound — tied together
  23. shower — rain
  24. bound — certain

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