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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. bass — the fish
  4. swing — to play on
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. squash — to crush
  8. ball — a great time
  9. squash — the sport
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. clip — for paper
  12. face — to confront
  13. ball — a dance
  14. clip — to cut
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bass — low music
  19. face — part of the head
  20. face — to point toward
  21. swing — music
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. swing — in golf
  24. clip — a video

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