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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. rash — a series
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. net — for catching
  14. clip — to cut
  15. mine — for digging
  16. rash — hasty
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. swing — to play on
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. swing — in golf
  24. cold — an illness

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