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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. present — there
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. clip — a video
  6. pound — a weight
  7. drill — army training
  8. present — the time now
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. drill — a practice
  11. spring — of water
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bass — the fish
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — to drop
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. spring — a coil
  18. pass — a permit
  19. clip — to cut
  20. present — a gift
  21. drill — the tool
  22. spring — the season
  23. bass — low music
  24. fall — the season

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