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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  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. sharp — clever
  2. ball — a great time
  3. rash — a series
  4. staff — employees
  5. swing — in golf
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. clip — a video
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. rash — hasty
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. clip — for paper
  13. staff — employees
  14. clip — to cut
  15. ball — a dance
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. date — the fruit
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. stem — to come from
  21. staff — a stick
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. swing — to play on
  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