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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. game — wild animals
  3. mug — a face
  4. field — a subject
  5. mug — to rob
  6. rock — music
  7. land — a country
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. game — a match
  11. pitch — completely
  12. rock — a stone
  13. bark — to shout
  14. land — ground
  15. land — to come down
  16. field — for sport
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. mug — a cup
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. field — farmland
  22. bass — the fish
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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