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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 120 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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — low music
  4. pound — a weight
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. cold — not warm
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. capital — a city
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. snap — to click
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. clip — for paper
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — a video
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. capital — money
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. bass — the fish

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