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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: trunk · fine · bass · snap · clip · temple · cold · squash

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — a video
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. bass — low music
  9. fine — all right
  10. squash — the sport
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. fine — high quality
  13. cold — not warm
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. squash — to crush
  16. snap — to click
  17. bass — the fish
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. clip — to cut
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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