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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. bass — low music
  3. ball — a dance
  4. ground — a position
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. bear — the animal
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cue — a signal
  11. cue — for pool
  12. bass — the fish
  13. mine — for digging
  14. ball — a great time
  15. cue — a hint
  16. rock — a stone
  17. ground — the earth
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. ground — crushed
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. ball — a round shape

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