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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: kid · staff · clip · shower · bass · spell · chair · ball

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. staff — a stick
  3. kid — child
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. staff — employees
  6. bass — the fish
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. spell — a short time
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. kid — to tease
  12. staff — employees
  13. clip — to cut
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. bass — low music
  16. chair — a leader
  17. ball — a dance
  18. shower — to wash
  19. spell — magic
  20. spell — letters
  21. clip — for paper
  22. ball — a great time
  23. shower — rain
  24. clip — a video

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