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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. swing — music
  8. clip — to cut
  9. saw — the tool
  10. ball — a great time
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — clever
  13. clip — a video
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. swing — to play on
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. swing — in golf
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. ball — a dance
  21. stand — to bear
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. saw — the tool

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