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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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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: root · swing · coach · lie · clip · content · cold · squash

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. root — of a plant
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. squash — the sport
  6. swing — in golf
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. clip — to cut
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. root — of a word
  11. content — happy
  12. content — the amount
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — a video
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. cold — an illness
  17. swing — to play on
  18. cold — not warm
  19. swing — music
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. squash — to crush
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. root — the cause

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