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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 120 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: rash · bass · kid · bat · wind · arm · clip · court

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. rash — hasty
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. kid — child
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bat — the animal
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. kid — to tease
  11. clip — to cut
  12. court — of a king
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — low music
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. wind — moving air
  18. court — for sport
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. rash — a series
  22. clip — a video
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. court — of law

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