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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: tear · club · tube · charge · cap · swing · rule · clip

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. tube — the underground
  3. clip — to cut
  4. swing — in golf
  5. club — a group
  6. cap — a lid
  7. rule — a law
  8. swing — to play on
  9. charge — a price
  10. tear — from crying
  11. charge — in control
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. cap — of ice
  14. tear — to rip
  15. club — for golf
  16. swing — music
  17. rule — government
  18. tube — a container
  19. tear — from crying
  20. clip — for paper
  21. cap — a hat
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. clip — a video
  24. charge — electricity

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