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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. swing — to play on
  3. cap — a hat
  4. fine — high quality
  5. cap — of ice
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. game — a match
  8. swing — music
  9. wind — moving air
  10. object — to protest
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wake — a trail
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cap — a lid
  17. wind — moving air
  18. game — wild animals
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. swing — in golf
  21. fine — all right
  22. clip — a video
  23. object — an aim
  24. wake — before a funeral

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