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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. fall — to drop
  3. hand — help
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cap — of ice
  6. fall — the season
  7. swing — in golf
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. cap — a lid
  10. club — a group
  11. season — in sport
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. chip — to eat
  14. hand — in cards
  15. fall — to drop
  16. chip — for betting
  17. swing — music
  18. cap — a hat
  19. club — for dancing
  20. season — of the year
  21. clip — to cut
  22. club — for golf
  23. swing — to play on
  24. clip — a video

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