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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. land — a country
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — a position
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. land — ground
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. field — for sport
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. ground — crushed
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bark — to shout
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. land — to come down
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — a subject
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. ruler — for measuring

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