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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  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. net — in sport
  3. row — a line
  4. firm — a company
  5. spell — letters
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. net — after costs
  9. bass — the fish
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cue — a signal
  12. net — for catching
  13. spell — a short time
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. spell — magic
  17. clip — for paper
  18. firm — steady
  19. cue — for pool
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cue — a hint
  22. firm — decided
  23. bass — the instrument
  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