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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 120 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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the fish
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. clip — to cut
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. chair — a leader
  9. snap — to click
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. field — farmland
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. object — a thing
  14. clip — a video
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. clip — for paper
  17. rush — hurry
  18. object — to protest
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. field — a subject
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. field — for sport

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