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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  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. swing — music
  2. shower — rain
  3. clip — a video
  4. game — a match
  5. rule — government
  6. land — ground
  7. key — in music
  8. clip — for paper
  9. swing — in golf
  10. shower — to wash
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. clip — to cut
  13. ground — crushed
  14. key — for a lock
  15. game — wild animals
  16. swing — to play on
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. rule — a law
  19. land — to come down
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — the earth
  22. key — the most important part
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  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