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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 120 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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468
Word bank
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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. root — of a word
  5. swing — to play on
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. club — a group
  8. root — of a plant
  9. swing — music
  10. face — part of the head
  11. club — for golf
  12. cell — in biology
  13. swing — in golf
  14. clip — to cut
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. clip — for paper
  17. face — to confront
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. clip — a video
  20. face — to point toward
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. root — the cause
  23. club — for dancing
  24. straw — dry grass

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