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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. rest — what's left
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. file — a document
  7. ground — crushed
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. file — a tool
  10. spring — a coil
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. spring — of water
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. rest — what's left
  17. ground — a position
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. bass — the fish
  20. file — a line of people
  21. rest — a break
  22. spring — the season
  23. ground — the earth
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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