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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — the fish
  4. fall — to drop
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. clip — to cut
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. clip — for paper
  11. spring — a coil
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. stand — to bear
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — to play on
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. fall — the season
  19. bass — low music
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. fall — to drop
  23. clip — a video
  24. stand — for spectators

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