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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. wind — moving air
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cap — of ice
  5. swing — music
  6. staff — employees
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. cap — a hat
  11. bank — of a river
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. clip — a video
  15. staff — employees
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cold — not warm
  18. swing — to play on
  19. clip — to cut
  20. swing — in golf
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bank — for money
  23. bank — for money
  24. cold — the Cold War

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