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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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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. clip — a video
  5. row — a line
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. bass — low music
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. tube — the underground
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. file — a document
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. file — a tool
  19. bass — the fish
  20. clip — to cut
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. clip — for paper
  24. tube — a container

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