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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: band · bat · ball · season · clip · pound · swing · spring

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. spring — the season
  3. pound — a weight
  4. clip — for paper
  5. ball — a dance
  6. swing — music
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. ball — a great time
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. season — in sport
  13. spring — of water
  14. band — a ring
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. spring — a coil
  17. swing — in golf
  18. swing — to play on
  19. season — of the year
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. bat — the animal
  22. clip — a video
  23. band — a music group
  24. clip — to cut

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