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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. rock — music
  4. cold — an illness
  5. ground — the earth
  6. rock — a stone
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. ground — crushed
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. face — to point toward
  12. shower — rain
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. cold — not warm
  15. shower — to wash
  16. face — part of the head
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. ground — a position
  21. face — to confront
  22. bass — the fish
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. pitch — completely

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