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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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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: shower · tube · pass · clip · row · bass · field · calf

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. clip — a video
  3. shower — to wash
  4. row — a line
  5. tube — a container
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. clip — for paper
  9. tube — the underground
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. clip — to cut
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. field — for sport
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. row — to paddle
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. shower — rain
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — a subject
  21. pass — a permit
  22. bass — low music
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. pass — to spend time

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