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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. clip — for paper
  3. swing — to play on
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. clip — a video
  7. lean — to bend
  8. chair — a leader
  9. band — a music group
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. lean — thin
  12. toast — bread
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. band — a ring
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. clip — to cut
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. swing — music
  22. bat — the animal
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — to trim

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