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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. track — a song
  3. track — a path
  4. clip — for paper
  5. drill — army training
  6. staff — a stick
  7. bass — low music
  8. wound — an injury
  9. craft — a skill
  10. craft — boats
  11. staff — employees
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chest — a box
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — a practice
  16. staff — employees
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. clip — a video
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bass — the fish
  21. chest — of your body
  22. clip — to cut
  23. track — to keep track
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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