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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. bass — the fish
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. cue — for pool
  5. clip — to cut
  6. cue — a signal
  7. band — a music group
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. spring — the season
  11. bass — low music
  12. cue — a hint
  13. chest — of your body
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. chest — of your body
  16. spring — a coil
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a ring
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. clip — a video
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. clip — for paper
  23. spring — of water
  24. chest — a box

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