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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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. wound — an injury
  4. rule — government
  5. wind — moving air
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bass — low music
  11. rule — a law
  12. fine — high quality
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. fine — all right
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. bass — the fish
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. clip — to cut

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