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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. bass — low music
  3. staff — employees
  4. rash — a series
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. row — a line
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. pound — a weight
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. staff — employees
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. staff — a stick
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. row — to paddle
  23. spring — of water
  24. row — a quarrel

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