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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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. cold — an illness
  4. charge — a price
  5. prune — to trim
  6. spring — of water
  7. cold — not warm
  8. object — an aim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. spring — the season
  11. prune — to trim
  12. charge — electricity
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bass — low music
  15. object — to protest
  16. charge — in control
  17. object — a thing
  18. spring — a coil

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