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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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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: date · cell · bass · kid · pop · mate · clip · fork

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  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. clip — to cut
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bass — the fish
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. pop — soda
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cell — in biology
  11. pop — to visit
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. mate — a partner
  16. pop — music
  17. clip — for paper
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. mate — to breed
  20. fork — in a road
  21. mate — a friend
  22. date — the fruit
  23. date — on the calendar
  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