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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.

Make a worksheet

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 · wind · net · clip · fan · band · mine · court

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. net — for catching
  3. swing — to play on
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. mine — for digging
  6. swing — in golf
  7. wind — moving air
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. clip — for paper
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a ring
  14. court — of law
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. wind — moving air
  17. net — after costs
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. court — of a king
  20. swing — music
  21. band — a music group
  22. clip — to cut
  23. court — for sport
  24. net — in sport

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