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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 120 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. club — a group
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. field — farmland
  6. swing — in golf
  7. club — for dancing
  8. swing — music
  9. field — for sport
  10. cell — in biology
  11. can — a tin
  12. clip — to cut
  13. swing — to play on
  14. can — a tin
  15. can — to be able to
  16. club — for golf
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. clip — for paper
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a music group
  21. field — a subject
  22. kick — in football
  23. clip — a video
  24. kick — a thrill

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