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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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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: straw · hand · swing · lie · clip · leaves · ground · bass

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. bass — low music
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. ground — a position
  5. lie — to recline
  6. ground — crushed
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. swing — in golf
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. hand — help
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. swing — to play on
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bass — the fish
  24. straw — dry grass

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