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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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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. club — for golf
  3. last — final
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. swing — in golf
  7. rest — what's left
  8. clip — for paper
  9. rest — what's left
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. swing — to play on
  12. hand — in cards
  13. last — finally
  14. last — to go on
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. club — for dancing
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — to cut
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. club — a group
  22. swing — music
  23. hand — help
  24. rest — a break

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