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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. rule — a law
  3. capital — a city
  4. rule — government
  5. capital — money
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. shower — to wash
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — a video
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. snap — to click
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. sharp — clever
  20. shower — rain
  21. swing — in golf
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. swing — to play on
  24. rule — to rule out

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