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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. mate — a friend
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. row — a line
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. mate — a partner
  7. band — a music group
  8. last — final
  9. band — a ring
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. swing — in golf
  12. row — to paddle
  13. stock — goods
  14. bass — the fish
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. mate — to breed
  17. last — to go on
  18. swing — to play on
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. stock — shares
  21. board — to get on
  22. last — finally
  23. swing — music
  24. board — a committee

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