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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. rest — what's left
  3. rest — what's left
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — a partner
  6. clip — a video
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. board — to get on
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. clip — to cut
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bass — low music
  16. board — a committee
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. mate — to breed
  19. prune — to trim
  20. race — humankind
  21. rest — a break
  22. bass — the fish
  23. race — a contest
  24. clip — for paper

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