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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 water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. row — a line
  4. bass — low music
  5. cell — in biology
  6. field — a subject
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. swing — music
  9. cell — a phone
  10. rock — music
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. field — for sport
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. field — farmland
  16. present — a gift
  17. bass — the fish
  18. row — to paddle
  19. swing — to play on
  20. present — the time now
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. swing — in golf
  23. rock — a stone
  24. present — there

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