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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. clip — to cut
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. swing — to play on
  5. lean — to bend
  6. dip — to sink
  7. lean — thin
  8. clip — for paper
  9. field — a subject
  10. current — electric
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. current — of water
  13. hand — help
  14. current — happening now
  15. clip — a video
  16. swing — music
  17. field — for sport
  18. plane — a tool
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. hand — in cards
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. field — farmland
  23. swing — in golf
  24. plane — in geometry

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