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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: clip · firm · bass · mine · bound · stem · bat · racket

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bass — low music
  3. bound — certain
  4. stem — to come from
  5. bound — obliged
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bat — the animal
  8. firm — a company
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. clip — a video
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. firm — decided
  15. bass — the fish
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. bound — tied together
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. firm — steady
  24. clip — for paper

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