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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. club — for dancing
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. club — for golf
  5. dip — to sink
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — farmland
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bass — low music
  10. snap — to click
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. row — to paddle
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. deal — to handle
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. tear — to rip
  17. field — a subject
  18. row — a line
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. tear — from crying
  21. club — a group
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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