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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. swing — to play on
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. press — a publisher
  5. clip — a video
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. land — a country
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. press — to push
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. swing — music
  14. land — to come down
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. press — newspapers
  17. row — a line
  18. clip — to cut
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. clip — for paper
  22. land — ground
  23. mine — for digging
  24. row — to paddle

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