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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. rash — a series
  3. scale — size or range
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. bark — to shout
  10. scale — in music
  11. degree — temperature
  12. vault — a safe
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. bass — the fish
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. degree — an amount
  23. rash — hasty
  24. bowl — a dish

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