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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pit — in a race
  8. root — of a word
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. pit — a hole
  11. bass — the fish
  12. root — the cause
  13. root — of a plant
  14. scale — size or range
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. field — a subject
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. wind — moving air
  22. content — happy
  23. scale — in music
  24. content — the amount

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