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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rash — hasty
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. shower — rain
  15. clip — for paper
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. shower — to wash
  19. bass — low music
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. clip — a video
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. rash — a series
  24. mine — for digging

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