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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bass — the fish
  7. track — a path
  8. hand — in cards
  9. bass — low music
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cell — in biology
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. cell — a phone
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. tear — to rip
  16. snap — to click
  17. track — a song
  18. track — to keep track
  19. clip — a video
  20. tear — from crying
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. prune — to trim
  23. tear — from crying
  24. hand — help

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