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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 116 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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bass — low music
  3. ground — a position
  4. tear — from crying
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. mate — a friend
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — to rip
  9. mate — to breed
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. game — a match
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. club — for dancing
  14. club — for golf
  15. dip — to sink
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. branch — a division
  18. ground — crushed
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. game — wild animals
  22. ground — the earth
  23. club — a group
  24. bass — the fish

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