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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. rash — hasty
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bass — the fish
  5. tear — from crying
  6. club — a group
  7. capital — money
  8. present — there
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. capital — a city
  11. club — for golf
  12. present — a gift
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. root — of a plant
  16. fall — the season
  17. present — the time now
  18. fall — to drop
  19. root — the cause
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. club — for dancing
  22. fall — to drop
  23. root — of a word
  24. rash — a series

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