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

Word bank: clip · face · dip · row · swing · band · fall · wax

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. face — part of the head
  3. face — to point toward
  4. swing — music
  5. face — to confront
  6. clip — to cut
  7. fall — to drop
  8. swing — in golf
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. swing — to play on
  12. band — a ring
  13. clip — for paper
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — the season
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. clip — a video
  20. band — a music group
  21. wax — to grow
  22. dip — to sink
  23. row — to paddle
  24. band — a rubber band

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