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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. club — for dancing
  4. club — for golf
  5. hand — in cards
  6. net — after costs
  7. hand — help
  8. net — in sport
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wound — an injury
  11. clip — for paper
  12. perch — the fish
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. clip — a video
  15. net — for catching
  16. club — a group
  17. swing — music
  18. rush — hurry
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. clip — to cut
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. swing — to play on
  24. swing — in golf

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