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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 ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. ground — a position
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. capital — a city
  5. net — after costs
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. bass — the fish
  8. net — for catching
  9. season — of the year
  10. swing — to play on
  11. spring — a coil
  12. bass — low music
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. swing — music
  15. swing — in golf
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. spring — the season
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. capital — money
  21. season — in sport
  22. spring — of water
  23. net — in sport
  24. ground — crushed

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