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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 120 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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. kick — in football
  3. craft — a skill
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. bulb — for light
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. bulb — for light
  10. ground — a position
  11. mine — for digging
  12. craft — boats
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bat — the animal
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. bass — the fish

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