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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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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 · racket · chest · wake · straw · swing · rock · row

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. clip — a video
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. clip — for paper
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. swing — to play on
  7. clip — to cut
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. swing — in golf
  10. rock — music
  11. wake — a trail
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. row — a line
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. row — to paddle
  21. rock — a stone
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. straw — dry grass

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