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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: mine · cell · plane · clip · pound · fan · rest · bass

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. bass — low music
  3. cell — a phone
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. cell — in biology
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — a break
  12. bass — the fish
  13. clip — a video
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. clip — to cut
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. pound — a weight
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. mine — for digging
  20. plane — a tool
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. rest — what's left

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