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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. firm — decided
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — a short time
  6. club — for golf
  7. last — to go on
  8. file — a line of people
  9. clip — for paper
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. last — final
  13. spell — magic
  14. file — a document
  15. clip — a video
  16. bass — low music
  17. club — a group
  18. firm — steady
  19. last — finally
  20. bass — the fish
  21. club — for dancing
  22. file — a tool
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. clip — to cut

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