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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bass — the fish
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bass — low music
  7. swing — in golf
  8. swing — music
  9. pitch — completely
  10. scale — size or range
  11. fall — to drop
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. swing — to play on
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. fall — the season
  18. scale — in music

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