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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: rush · clip · mate · bore · game · bass · ball · lean

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  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. mate — a partner
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. ball — a great time
  5. lean — to bend
  6. ball — a dance
  7. mate — a friend
  8. bass — low music
  9. lean — thin
  10. bass — the fish
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. bore — to tire
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. bore — to drill
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. rush — hurry
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. mate — to breed
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. clip — a video

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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