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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 120 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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. squash — the sport
  3. spell — a short time
  4. clip — for paper
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. cap — a lid
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. clip — a video
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. spell — magic
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bass — low music
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. cap — a hat
  18. cap — of ice
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pound — a weight
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. spell — letters
  23. bass — the fish
  24. squash — to crush

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