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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. charge — in control
  3. clip — a video
  4. last — to go on
  5. charge — a price
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. track — to keep track
  8. last — final
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bass — the fish
  11. last — finally
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — a phone
  14. clip — for paper
  15. track — a path
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. charge — electricity
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. kid — to tease
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bass — low music
  22. hand — help
  23. kid — child
  24. track — a song

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