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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. bass — low music
  3. scale — size or range
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. fork — in a road
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. cold — an illness
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. stem — to come from
  12. shower — to wash
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bass — the fish
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — rain
  20. sharp — clever
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. cold — not warm

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