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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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. key — in music
  4. present — a gift
  5. spell — a short time
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. spell — magic
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. kid — child
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — a division
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. spell — letters
  17. present — the time now
  18. key — the most important part
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. key — for a lock
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. present — there
  23. bass — the fish
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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