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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 120 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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. file — a document
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. content — the amount
  6. clip — to cut
  7. spring — the season
  8. file — a tool
  9. spring — of water
  10. lie — to recline
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. file — a line of people
  13. swing — in golf
  14. content — happy
  15. swing — music
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. swing — to play on
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. spring — a coil
  24. hide — to keep secret

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