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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. key — for a lock
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. capital — money
  10. roll — a cake
  11. key — the most important part
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. capital — a city
  14. sharp — clever
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. game — a match
  17. key — in music
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. game — wild animals
  21. roll — a list
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. sharp — with an edge

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