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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. saw — the tool
  3. field — farmland
  4. rest — what's left
  5. ball — a dance
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. race — the arms race
  8. ball — a great time
  9. saw — the tool
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. sharp — clever
  12. field — for sport
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. hand — help
  15. bass — the fish
  16. rest — what's left
  17. hand — in cards
  18. bass — low music
  19. field — a subject
  20. rest — a break
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. race — humankind
  24. race — a contest

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