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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. race — the arms race
  3. track — a path
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. clip — a video
  8. track — a song
  9. pitch — completely
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. track — to keep track
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. file — a tool
  14. race — a contest
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. bass — the fish
  18. clip — to cut
  19. file — a document
  20. race — humankind
  21. clip — for paper
  22. file — a line of people
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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