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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  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. stick — a piece of wood
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. swing — in golf
  9. swing — music
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. pitch — completely
  15. mine — for digging
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. swing — to play on
  21. bear — the animal
  22. race — humankind
  23. bass — the fish
  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