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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. lean — to bend
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. row — a line
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. file — a line of people
  7. cue — a signal
  8. file — a tool
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. dip — to sink
  13. lean — thin
  14. bass — the fish
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. file — a document
  18. cue — a hint
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cue — for pool
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. dip — a sauce

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