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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. march — the month
  5. current — of water
  6. bass — the fish
  7. march — the month
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. current — electric
  11. chest — of your body
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — the tool
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. current — happening now
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. bark — to shout
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. chest — a box
  24. march — music

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