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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bass — low music
  3. squash — the sport
  4. suit — to fit
  5. saw — the tool
  6. suit — in cards
  7. squash — to crush
  8. present — the time now
  9. suit — clothes
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. pound — a weight
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. present — a gift
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. saw — the tool
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wound — an injury
  24. present — there

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