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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. capital — a city
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. bass — the fish
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. clip — for paper
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. fork — in a road
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. dip — to sink
  17. clip — a video
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. clip — to cut
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a big letter

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