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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. bass — the fish
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mine — for digging
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. wind — moving air
  15. dip — to sink
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. wind — moving air
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. kick — in football
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. dip — to dunk

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