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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 · wound · face · hand · clip · rash · game · can

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. face — part of the head
  3. face — to point toward
  4. can — to be able to
  5. clip — for paper
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — in cards
  9. game — a match
  10. swing — music
  11. swing — to play on
  12. can — a tin
  13. clip — a video
  14. wound — an injury
  15. can — a tin
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. clip — to cut
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — a series
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. swing — in golf
  24. face — to confront

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