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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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. land — to come down
  3. band — a music group
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. cue — a signal
  6. cue — a hint
  7. fall — to drop
  8. land — ground
  9. shower — rain
  10. bass — low music
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. clip — for paper
  14. band — a ring
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. clip — a video
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. fall — the season
  21. clip — to cut
  22. cue — for pool
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. land — a country

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