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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. rock — music
  3. pass — a permit
  4. wind — moving air
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. shower — rain
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. net — in sport
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. chair — a leader
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a great time
  13. rock — a stone
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. net — after costs
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. shower — to wash
  19. clip — to cut
  20. net — for catching
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. wind — moving air

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