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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. swing — music
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. swing — in golf
  10. capital — money
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. rock — music
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. clip — to cut
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. branch — a division
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. clip — a video
  22. rock — a stone
  23. capital — a city
  24. capital — a big letter

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