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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. pop — soda
  3. ball — a great time
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — for digging
  6. clip — a video
  7. pop — music
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. file — a document
  11. pop — to visit
  12. clip — to cut
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bass — the fish
  19. clip — for paper
  20. wind — moving air
  21. file — a tool
  22. bass — low music
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. ball — a dance

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