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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  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. hide — to keep secret
  2. bass — the fish
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. saw — the tool
  5. fine — high quality
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. bass — low music
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. shower — to wash
  11. clip — for paper
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. plane — a tool
  16. clip — to cut
  17. fine — all right
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. shower — rain
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. saw — the tool
  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