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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 116 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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  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. bass — the fish
  2. pop — music
  3. key — for a lock
  4. key — the most important part
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. club — for dancing
  7. cold — an illness
  8. key — in music
  9. pop — to visit
  10. cell — in biology
  11. net — after costs
  12. pop — soda
  13. club — for golf
  14. club — a group
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bass — low music
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bear — the animal
  19. cell — a phone
  20. net — in sport
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bass — the instrument
  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