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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 116 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: swing · clip · wave · pitcher · dip · bat · press · net

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. swing — to play on
  3. clip — to cut
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. clip — for paper
  7. press — a publisher
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. dip — to sink
  10. press — to push
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — in sport
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — music
  21. net — for catching
  22. clip — a video
  23. press — newspapers
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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