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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 124 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. pound — a weight
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. bear — the animal
  10. tube — the underground
  11. perch — the fish
  12. file — a line of people
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — a video
  15. tube — a container
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. file — a tool
  18. bear — the animal
  19. bass — the fish
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. clip — for paper
  23. branch — a division
  24. file — a document

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