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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. saw — the tool
  3. shower — to wash
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bound — obliged
  6. squash — the sport
  7. shower — rain
  8. spring — of water
  9. bound — certain
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. mine — for digging
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pitch — completely
  15. saw — the tool
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. squash — to crush
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. spring — the season
  22. bound — tied together
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  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