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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. club — for dancing
  3. fork — in a road
  4. cue — a hint
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. clip — to cut
  7. club — a group
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. stem — to come from
  11. current — happening now
  12. cue — for pool
  13. clip — a video
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. cue — a signal
  16. current — electric
  17. current — of water
  18. club — for golf
  19. bass — the fish
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. clip — for paper
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. stem — a stem cell

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