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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. bass — low music
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. scale — size or range
  5. bass — the fish
  6. lie — to recline
  7. land — ground
  8. scale — in music
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. spring — of water
  12. ground — a position
  13. race — the arms race
  14. spring — a coil
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. spring — the season
  17. race — humankind
  18. land — to come down
  19. ground — crushed
  20. race — a contest
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. land — a country
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. ground — the earth

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