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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 play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bore — to tire
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — to cut
  10. field — for sport
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. bore — to drill
  13. bass — the fish
  14. track — to keep track
  15. cell — in biology
  16. vault — a safe
  17. cell — a phone
  18. clip — a video
  19. field — farmland
  20. track — a song
  21. bat — the animal
  22. field — a subject
  23. bass — low music
  24. track — a path

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