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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. sharp — clever
  3. bass — low music
  4. land — to come down
  5. drill — a practice
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. land — a country
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. firm — a company
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. firm — steady
  13. bat — the animal
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — army training
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. land — ground
  23. firm — decided
  24. bass — the fish

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