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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. squash — the sport
  5. wound — an injury
  6. clip — a video
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — the animal
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. vault — a safe
  12. wound — an injury
  13. clip — to cut
  14. spell — letters
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. spell — magic
  17. bass — the fish
  18. stock — goods
  19. spell — a short time
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. squash — to crush
  23. stock — shares
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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