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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. track — a path
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. charge — electricity
  6. track — a song
  7. lie — to recline
  8. clip — for paper
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of law
  11. bass — low music
  12. net — in sport
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. bass — the fish
  16. clip — a video
  17. charge — in control
  18. clip — to cut
  19. net — after costs
  20. court — of a king
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. charge — a price
  23. net — for catching
  24. track — to keep track

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