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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. row — a line
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. bat — the animal
  12. chip — for betting
  13. chip — to eat
  14. fall — to drop
  15. clip — for paper
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bass — the fish
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. row — to paddle
  22. fall — the season
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. row — a quarrel

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