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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. swing — music
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — a video
  6. land — to come down
  7. last — finally
  8. land — ground
  9. swing — in golf
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. last — final
  13. band — a music group
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. swing — to play on
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. scale — in music
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — a series
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. clip — to cut
  22. last — to go on
  23. land — a country
  24. band — a ring

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