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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. bass — the fish
  3. suit — to fit
  4. degree — an amount
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. drill — a practice
  8. pit — a hole
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. rash — a series
  13. suit — clothes
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. wind — moving air
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bass — low music
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. drill — army training
  20. pit — in a race
  21. degree — temperature
  22. rash — hasty
  23. drill — the tool
  24. pound — a weight

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