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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bass — low music
  3. object — to protest
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — final
  6. roll — a cake
  7. bat — the animal
  8. object — an aim
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. object — a thing
  12. clip — to cut
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. last — finally
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. roll — a list

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