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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. ground — the earth
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. cold — not warm
  7. band — a music group
  8. pop — soda
  9. field — for sport
  10. bass — the fish
  11. field — a subject
  12. pit — in a race
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. ground — crushed
  15. pop — music
  16. pit — a hole
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. band — a ring
  20. field — farmland
  21. bass — low music
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. ground — a position
  24. band — a rubber band

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