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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. swing — in golf
  6. spring — of water
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. clip — a video
  9. spring — the season
  10. drill — a practice
  11. drill — army training
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. rest — what's left
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. drill — the tool
  17. spring — a coil
  18. clip — to cut
  19. rest — a break
  20. swing — music
  21. clip — for paper
  22. swing — to play on
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. game — wild animals

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