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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. rest — a break
  3. roll — a cake
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. bass — the fish
  6. plane — a tool
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bore — to drill
  9. bore — to tire
  10. file — a tool
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. file — a document
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. file — a line of people
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. roll — a list
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. rest — what's left
  20. clip — a video
  21. bass — low music
  22. clip — to cut
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. straw — dry grass

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