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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. hand — help
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. row — a line
  6. bass — low music
  7. clip — for paper
  8. net — after costs
  9. bank — for money
  10. row — to paddle
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — to cut
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. bank — of a river
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. net — for catching
  22. bank — for money
  23. bass — the fish
  24. hand — in cards

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