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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. wind — moving air
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. bass — low music
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. march — the month
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — a video
  10. wind — moving air
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. row — a line
  14. mine — for digging
  15. row — to paddle
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. march — the month
  18. cap — of ice
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. march — music
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. cap — a lid
  23. bass — the fish
  24. cap — a hat

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