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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. kid — child
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. current — happening now
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. march — the month
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. hand — in cards
  11. dip — to sink
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. current — of water
  14. march — music
  15. current — electric
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. spring — of water
  19. hand — help
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bass — the fish
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. spring — the season
  24. march — the month

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