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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. game — a match
  3. suit — in cards
  4. clip — to cut
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. snap — to click
  8. clip — for paper
  9. charge — electricity
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bass — the fish
  12. charge — a price
  13. charge — in control
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. prune — to trim
  16. suit — to fit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. game — wild animals
  20. shower — to wash
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. suit — clothes
  23. shower — rain
  24. clip — a video

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