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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  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. swing — in golf
  2. wound — an injury
  3. mine — for digging
  4. pitch — completely
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. court — for sport
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. clip — for paper
  10. sharp — clever
  11. rash — hasty
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. rash — a series
  14. swing — music
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. court — of law
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. court — of a king
  22. swing — to play on
  23. wound — an injury
  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