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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bass — the fish
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. game — wild animals
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. clip — to cut
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. chair — a leader
  11. swing — in golf
  12. game — a match
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. swing — to play on
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. bass — low music
  23. swing — music
  24. lie — to recline

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