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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. game — a match
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bark — to shout
  6. game — wild animals
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. bass — low music
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. row — a line
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. row — to paddle
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. clip — a video
  20. prune — to trim
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. prune — to trim

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