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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 116 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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. bat — the animal
  3. shower — rain
  4. clip — a video
  5. shower — to wash
  6. swing — to play on
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. net — for catching
  9. field — for sport
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. net — after costs
  12. field — a subject
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. clip — to cut
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. field — farmland
  20. net — in sport
  21. sharp — clever
  22. swing — music
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. bat — for baseball

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