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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. clip — for paper
  4. bass — low music
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — to cut
  12. content — the amount
  13. vault — a safe
  14. track — to keep track
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. field — farmland
  18. track — a path
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bass — the fish
  21. field — for sport
  22. content — happy
  23. track — a song
  24. field — a subject

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