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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. saw — the tool
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. ball — a dance
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. clip — a video
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. toast — bread
  12. present — there
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. clip — for paper
  15. hand — in cards
  16. present — a gift
  17. saw — the tool
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. hand — help
  20. clip — to cut
  21. swing — in golf
  22. present — the time now
  23. swing — to play on
  24. ball — a great time

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