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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 124 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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. swing — music
  3. clip — for paper
  4. swing — to play on
  5. game — wild animals
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. game — a match
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. face — to confront
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. clip — to cut
  12. swing — in golf
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. present — there
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. clip — a video
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stem — to come from
  21. face — part of the head
  22. date — the fruit
  23. face — to point toward
  24. present — a gift

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