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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. swing — music
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. clip — for paper
  7. row — to paddle
  8. swing — to play on
  9. swing — in golf
  10. clip — a video
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. game — a match
  14. lean — thin
  15. game — wild animals
  16. row — a line
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. season — of the year
  19. cold — not warm
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. season — in sport
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. lean — to bend

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