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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. spell — letters
  3. sharp — clever
  4. net — after costs
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. spell — a short time
  10. net — for catching
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. rash — a series
  13. clip — a video
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bass — low music
  17. clip — to cut
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. rash — hasty
  21. bass — the fish
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. spell — magic
  24. mouse — the animal

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