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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. bass — low music
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bat — the animal
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — a break
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. lean — to bend
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. rest — what's left
  23. lean — thin
  24. bat — for baseball

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