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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. kick — in football
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. can — a tin
  8. can — to be able to
  9. chest — of your body
  10. hand — help
  11. last — final
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. last — finally
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. can — a tin
  19. hand — in cards
  20. last — to go on
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bass — the fish

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