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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 play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. cap — a lid
  3. rest — what's left
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. rest — what's left
  6. scale — size or range
  7. bass — low music
  8. last — to go on
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. cap — a hat
  11. bass — the fish
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rest — a break
  14. cap — of ice
  15. last — final
  16. last — finally
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a tool
  20. clip — to cut
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. clip — a video
  23. toast — bread
  24. scale — in music

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