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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 116 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  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. bat — in an idiom
  2. rest — what's left
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rest — what's left
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bass — the fish
  7. field — farmland
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. present — a gift
  11. clip — a video
  12. firm — steady
  13. bat — the animal
  14. field — a subject
  15. rest — a break
  16. firm — a company
  17. bass — low music
  18. firm — decided
  19. clip — to cut
  20. present — the time now
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — to wash
  23. present — there
  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