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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. capital — money
  4. rush — hurry
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. clip — for paper
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. saw — the tool
  10. clip — a video
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. saw — the tool
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. swing — music
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. clip — to cut
  23. dip — to sink
  24. swing — in golf

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