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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bass — the fish
  4. deal — to handle
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. prune — to trim
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. bound — certain
  13. bound — tied together
  14. game — a match
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wind — moving air
  18. game — wild animals
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. clip — a video
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bound — obliged

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