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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. march — the month
  3. bass — low music
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. ball — a great time
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. rest — a break
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cold — an illness
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — a position
  17. ground — the earth
  18. rest — what's left
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. bass — the fish
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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