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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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468
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: swing · bear · mug · pitcher · present · foot · clip · chest

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. chest — of your body
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — to cut
  5. foot — a measure
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. bear — the animal
  8. swing — to play on
  9. mug — to rob
  10. mug — a cup
  11. chest — of your body
  12. swing — music
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. mug — a face
  15. present — a gift
  16. chest — a box
  17. bear — the animal
  18. swing — in golf
  19. present — the time now
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. present — there
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. foot — the bottom

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