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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bat — the animal
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. season — of the year
  5. field — farmland
  6. season — in sport
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. charge — in control
  9. spring — the season
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. spring — of water
  12. content — the amount
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. spring — a coil
  17. content — happy
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. charge — a price
  20. field — a subject
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. field — for sport
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. charge — electricity

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