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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: hand · bat · clip · current · march · bass · chair · safe

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. current — happening now
  4. clip — a video
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. march — the month
  8. bass — low music
  9. bat — the animal
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. current — of water
  12. march — music
  13. current — electric
  14. clip — for paper
  15. hand — in cards
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. march — the month
  18. clip — to cut
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bass — the fish
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. chair — a leader

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