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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: net · bass · fall · rule · chest · clip · bank · snap

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chest — of your body
  3. net — in sport
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. net — for catching
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bank — of a river
  9. fall — to drop
  10. net — after costs
  11. rule — government
  12. fall — to drop
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. clip — a video
  15. snap — to click
  16. chest — a box
  17. bass — the fish
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. clip — for paper
  20. rule — a law
  21. fall — the season
  22. bank — for money
  23. bank — for money
  24. bass — low music

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