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

Word bank: bass · cold · clip · band · charge · key · bay · perch

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. charge — in control
  3. key — the most important part
  4. bass — low music
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. charge — electricity
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. key — in music
  9. key — for a lock
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. cold — not warm
  12. band — a ring
  13. perch — the fish
  14. charge — a price
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. cold — an illness
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bass — the fish
  24. cold — the Cold War

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