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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. toast — bread
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. bass — the fish
  10. fine — all right
  11. fine — high quality
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. chip — for betting
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chip — to eat
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. cold — the Cold War

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