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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. present — there
  3. field — a subject
  4. present — a gift
  5. chest — of your body
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. chest — a box
  9. game — a match
  10. field — for sport
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. chest — of your body
  14. charge — electricity
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. game — wild animals
  17. field — farmland
  18. bass — low music
  19. snap — to click
  20. charge — in control
  21. charge — a price
  22. present — the time now
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. bass — the instrument

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