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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. clip — to cut
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. band — a music group
  7. clip — a video
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. field — farmland
  11. land — a country
  12. swing — to play on
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. swing — in golf
  17. band — a ring
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. land — ground
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. land — to come down

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