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

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. club — for dancing
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. club — for golf
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. cell — a phone
  8. bass — low music
  9. band — a ring
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a music group
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. club — a group
  16. bass — the fish
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cell — in biology

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