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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bass — the fish
  6. roll — a list
  7. court — for sport
  8. bound — certain
  9. root — the cause
  10. spell — letters
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. court — of law
  13. court — of a king
  14. cell — a phone
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bound — tied together
  18. root — of a plant
  19. root — of a word
  20. spell — magic
  21. chest — a box
  22. roll — a cake
  23. cell — in biology
  24. spell — a short time

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