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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. snap — to click
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. mate — a partner
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bass — the fish
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. mate — to breed
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — an amount
  15. pass — a permit
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — to shout
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mate — a friend
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bass — low music

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