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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — the fish
  3. clip — for paper
  4. file — a tool
  5. bass — low music
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. tear — from crying
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. clip — to cut
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. tear — from crying
  13. shower — to wash
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. file — a line of people
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. tear — to rip
  20. file — a document
  21. shower — rain
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. clip — a video

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