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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. clip — a video
  6. pop — to visit
  7. pop — soda
  8. clip — for paper
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. cold — an illness
  14. current — electric
  15. bass — the fish
  16. clip — to cut
  17. current — happening now
  18. bark — to shout
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. current — of water
  22. bass — low music
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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