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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. swing — in golf
  3. swing — music
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. craft — boats
  7. degree — an amount
  8. foot — a measure
  9. craft — a skill
  10. sharp — clever
  11. rest — what's left
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. rest — what's left
  15. clip — a video
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. tube — the underground
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. tube — a container
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. swing — to play on

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