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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: pound · clip · sharp · chest · rash · ball · snap · swing

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. snap — to click
  4. ball — a dance
  5. pound — a weight
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. sharp — clever
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. swing — in golf
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. ball — a great time
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. clip — a video
  17. chest — a box
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — to cut
  21. swing — music
  22. rash — hasty
  23. swing — to play on
  24. ball — a round shape

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