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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 120 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — low music
  3. lean — thin
  4. bass — the fish
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cap — a hat
  8. file — a document
  9. kick — in football
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. hand — in cards
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a line of people
  15. hand — help
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. cap — of ice
  22. cap — a lid
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. lean — to bend

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