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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. swing — music
  3. march — the month
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. fine — all right
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. rash — hasty
  9. fine — high quality
  10. march — the month
  11. swing — in golf
  12. rash — a series
  13. capital — a city
  14. clip — to cut
  15. capital — money
  16. track — a song
  17. track — to keep track
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. track — a path
  20. march — music
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. clip — a video
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. swing — to play on

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