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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 116 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cell — a phone
  3. net — in sport
  4. bass — the fish
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — after costs
  7. wind — moving air
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. kid — child
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bound — certain
  18. track — a path
  19. track — a song
  20. track — to keep track
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. bound — obliged
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bass — low music

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