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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. capital — money
  3. swing — to play on
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. swing — in golf
  6. ground — the earth
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. board — to get on
  9. face — part of the head
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. clip — a video
  12. face — to confront
  13. ground — a position
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. capital — a city
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. board — a committee
  18. clip — for paper
  19. face — to point toward
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. bass — low music
  22. ground — crushed
  23. clip — to cut
  24. swing — music

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