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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. race — the arms race
  4. spring — the season
  5. press — a publisher
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bass — the fish
  10. object — a thing
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. tear — from crying
  14. race — humankind
  15. spring — of water
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. object — to protest
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. press — newspapers
  20. race — a contest
  21. press — to push
  22. object — an aim
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wake — a trail

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