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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pop — music
  3. object — to protest
  4. ground — a position
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. capital — a city
  7. ground — crushed
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. ground — the earth
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bass — the fish
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. wake — a trail
  16. pop — to visit
  17. object — a thing
  18. object — an aim
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. clip — a video
  21. bass — low music
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. pop — soda

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