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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. stem — to come from
  8. bass — low music
  9. rock — a stone
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. rush — hurry
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. staff — a stick
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. staff — employees
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bass — the fish
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. staff — employees
  24. clip — to cut

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