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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: clip · degree · swing · race · bass · coach · mouse · face

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. swing — in golf
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. face — part of the head
  4. clip — for paper
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. clip — a video
  8. degree — an amount
  9. bass — the fish
  10. race — a contest
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. swing — to play on
  13. race — humankind
  14. bass — low music
  15. swing — music
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. race — the arms race
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. degree — temperature
  20. face — to point toward
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. clip — to cut
  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