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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. clip — a video
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. chip — to eat
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. clip — to cut
  8. file — a tool
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. bass — low music
  11. bass — the fish
  12. ball — a dance
  13. file — a line of people
  14. rest — what's left
  15. dip — to sink
  16. chip — for betting
  17. rest — what's left
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. clip — for paper
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. file — a document
  24. rest — a break

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