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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: swing · chest · band · can · file · toast · foot · clip

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. chest — of your body
  3. file — a tool
  4. file — a line of people
  5. swing — music
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. clip — for paper
  9. band — a ring
  10. toast — bread
  11. can — to be able to
  12. can — a tin
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. foot — a measure
  17. can — a tin
  18. clip — a video
  19. chest — of your body
  20. swing — to play on
  21. clip — to cut
  22. chest — a box
  23. file — a document
  24. swing — in golf

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