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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. clip — for paper
  3. saw — the tool
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bass — low music
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. root — the cause
  9. root — of a word
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. root — of a plant
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. saw — the tool
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. cold — not warm
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. scale — in music
  20. clip — to cut
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. clip — a video

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