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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. clip — a video
  3. charge — a price
  4. hand — in cards
  5. swing — music
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. charge — electricity
  8. hand — help
  9. swing — in golf
  10. degree — temperature
  11. clip — for paper
  12. tear — from crying
  13. squash — the sport
  14. tear — from crying
  15. degree — from a university
  16. fine — all right
  17. clip — to cut
  18. degree — an amount
  19. fine — high quality
  20. tear — to rip
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. charge — in control
  23. squash — to crush
  24. squash — the vegetable

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