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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — the fish
  4. sharp — clever
  5. prune — to trim
  6. object — an aim
  7. cold — an illness
  8. row — to paddle
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. object — to protest
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. row — a line
  17. bass — low music
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. file — a line of people
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. file — a tool
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. cold — not warm
  24. file — a document

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