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

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. chest — a box
  5. clip — to cut
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. shower — to wash
  10. bass — the fish
  11. pound — a weight
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bass — low music
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — a meteor shower

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