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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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Word bank
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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. present — a gift
  5. bass — low music
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. face — to point toward
  10. face — to confront
  11. present — there
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. present — the time now
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. clip — for paper
  19. face — part of the head
  20. degree — temperature
  21. field — a subject
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. chair — a leader
  24. degree — from a university

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