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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. kick — in football
  3. board — a committee
  4. clip — a video
  5. rock — a stone
  6. rock — music
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bass — low music
  9. hand — help
  10. clip — for paper
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. board — to get on
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. shower — rain
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. shower — to wash
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — a phone

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