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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. root — the cause
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. ground — crushed
  5. spell — magic
  6. spell — letters
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. root — of a word
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. clip — to cut
  11. spell — a short time
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. swing — to play on
  15. clip — a video
  16. swing — in golf
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. clip — for paper
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. ground — a position
  21. mine — for digging
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. root — of a plant
  24. ground — the earth

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