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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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. capital — money
  3. bound — certain
  4. bass — low music
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — after costs
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — what's left
  10. tube — the underground
  11. clip — to cut
  12. net — in sport
  13. tube — a container
  14. bound — obliged
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. bass — the fish
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. clip — for paper
  21. capital — a city
  22. bound — tied together
  23. chair — a leader
  24. clip — a video

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