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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. land — to come down
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bass — low music
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. drill — army training
  8. bass — the fish
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — a position
  11. land — ground
  12. stock — shares
  13. drill — the tool
  14. pit — a hole
  15. drill — a practice
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. stock — goods
  20. land — a country
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. ground — the earth
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. pit — in a race

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