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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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. bat — the animal
  4. mark — a grade
  5. net — for catching
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. mark — a trace
  8. face — part of the head
  9. swing — to play on
  10. clip — a video
  11. face — to point toward
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. net — after costs
  14. rash — hasty
  15. face — to confront
  16. clip — to cut
  17. rash — a series
  18. net — in sport
  19. wind — moving air
  20. swing — music
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. wind — moving air

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