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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. bass — low music
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. net — for catching
  5. cold — not warm
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. net — after costs
  10. pound — a weight
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. clip — a video
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. clip — to cut
  17. kick — in football
  18. season — of the year
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. cold — an illness
  22. season — in sport
  23. bass — the fish
  24. clip — for paper

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