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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · clip · band · sharp · racket · chest · mark · net

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  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. clip — a video
  2. band — a ring
  3. swing — to play on
  4. mark — a trace
  5. chest — a box
  6. swing — music
  7. clip — for paper
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. chest — of your body
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. band — a music group
  16. swing — in golf
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. chest — of your body
  19. net — for catching
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. sharp — clever
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. mark — a grade
  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