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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. net — after costs
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. net — in sport
  5. rock — music
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. net — for catching
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. swing — in golf
  11. foot — a measure
  12. swing — music
  13. rock — a stone
  14. shower — rain
  15. swing — to play on
  16. clip — to cut
  17. hand — help
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. mate — a friend
  20. mate — to breed
  21. hand — in cards
  22. mate — a partner
  23. clip — a video
  24. shower — to wash

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