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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. clip — a video
  3. cold — an illness
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. perch — the fish
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bass — low music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. present — a gift
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. present — the time now
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bound — tied together
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. plane — a tool
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. bound — certain
  23. bound — obliged
  24. present — there

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