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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. clip — to cut
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. field — farmland
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. pass — a permit
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. bass — the fish
  12. field — for sport
  13. cold — an illness
  14. clip — a video
  15. press — newspapers
  16. rush — hurry
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. press — to push
  20. field — a subject
  21. press — a publisher
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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