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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 120 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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. band — a music group
  4. tube — a container
  5. stock — shares
  6. clip — a video
  7. tube — the underground
  8. field — farmland
  9. lean — thin
  10. swing — to play on
  11. lean — to bend
  12. field — a subject
  13. stock — goods
  14. scale — in music
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. clip — for paper
  17. scale — size or range
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. field — for sport
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. clip — to cut
  24. swing — music

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