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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: present · swing · land · clip · cell · firm

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. firm — a company
  3. clip — to cut
  4. land — to come down
  5. cell — in biology
  6. land — a country
  7. firm — decided
  8. clip — a video
  9. cell — a phone
  10. firm — steady
  11. present — a gift
  12. present — there
  13. swing — music
  14. swing — in golf
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. swing — to play on
  17. present — the time now
  18. clip — for paper

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