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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. stock — shares
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. bat — the animal
  10. plane — a tool
  11. stock — goods
  12. clip — a video
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bass — the fish
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. degree — temperature
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. hand — help
  24. clip — to cut

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