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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. net — for catching
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. current — happening now
  7. net — in sport
  8. clip — a video
  9. current — electric
  10. degree — an amount
  11. lean — to bend
  12. row — a line
  13. ball — a great time
  14. current — of water
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. lean — thin
  18. row — to paddle
  19. bass — the fish
  20. degree — temperature
  21. clip — for paper
  22. net — after costs
  23. degree — from a university
  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