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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 124 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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. rush — hurry
  4. bass — low music
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. toast — bread
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. mug — a cup
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — child
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. spring — a coil
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. mug — to rob
  18. spring — of water
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. spring — the season
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. degree — temperature
  24. mug — a face

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