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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. bass — low music
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. clip — to cut
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. clip — for paper
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. clip — a video
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pound — a weight
  14. chair — a leader
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. bass — the fish
  18. tear — to rip
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. cold — an illness
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. cold — not warm

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