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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. swing — music
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. clip — a video
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. kid — to tease
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. roll — a cake
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. roll — a list
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. swing — in golf
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. swing — to play on
  16. ground — a position
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. clip — for paper
  20. kid — child
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — money
  24. ground — the earth

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