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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bound — tied together
  4. land — to come down
  5. bound — certain
  6. clip — to cut
  7. fall — to drop
  8. march — the month
  9. bass — low music
  10. swing — music
  11. mug — a face
  12. fall — the season
  13. swing — in golf
  14. march — the month
  15. clip — for paper
  16. mug — a cup
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bass — the fish
  20. clip — a video
  21. fall — to drop
  22. land — ground
  23. march — music
  24. land — a country

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