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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. root — of a word
  3. staff — a stick
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bass — low music
  6. cold — not warm
  7. firm — steady
  8. firm — a company
  9. net — in sport
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. root — of a plant
  12. staff — employees
  13. march — music
  14. firm — decided
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. staff — employees
  17. march — the month
  18. net — after costs
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. root — the cause
  21. march — the month
  22. bass — the fish
  23. ball — a dance
  24. net — for catching

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