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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — low music
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cap — of ice
  6. mate — to breed
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. kid — child
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. clip — a video
  11. bark — to shout
  12. tube — the underground
  13. cap — a hat
  14. mate — a partner
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. mate — a friend
  18. bass — the fish
  19. clip — to cut
  20. tube — a container
  21. cap — a lid
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. kid — to tease
  24. tube — in a tire

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