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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. swing — to play on
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. face — part of the head
  5. present — the time now
  6. clip — to cut
  7. pop — soda
  8. pop — to visit
  9. row — to paddle
  10. clip — for paper
  11. swing — in golf
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. wind — moving air
  14. face — to point toward
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. present — there
  17. wind — moving air
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. clip — a video
  20. present — a gift
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. face — to confront
  23. swing — music
  24. row — a line

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