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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. fine — high quality
  3. clip — a video
  4. swing — in golf
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. swing — music
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. fine — all right
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. face — to point toward
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. clip — for paper
  15. branch — a division
  16. band — a ring
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. band — a music group
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. clip — to cut
  21. swing — to play on
  22. face — part of the head
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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