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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pit · cue · cell · bass · spell · land · clip · race

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cue — for pool
  3. clip — a video
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bass — the fish
  6. bass — low music
  7. clip — to cut
  8. pit — in a race
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. cue — a hint
  11. spell — a short time
  12. land — a country
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — humankind
  15. race — the arms race
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cell — in biology
  18. spell — magic
  19. land — ground
  20. spell — letters
  21. cue — a signal
  22. pit — a hole
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. land — to come down

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