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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. clip — for paper
  5. root — of a plant
  6. clip — to cut
  7. drill — the tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. face — to point toward
  10. bass — the fish
  11. root — of a word
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. root — the cause
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. clip — a video
  17. face — part of the head
  18. drill — army training
  19. face — to confront
  20. drill — a practice
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. bass — low music
  24. cold — not warm

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