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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. hand — help
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. march — music
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. hand — in cards
  7. pound — a weight
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. stock — shares
  10. clip — a video
  11. march — the month
  12. clip — for paper
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bass — the fish
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. march — the month
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. bass — low music
  23. stock — goods
  24. stock — a soup base

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