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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 116 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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. bass — low music
  3. ball — a great time
  4. present — the time now
  5. present — there
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bound — obliged
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. swing — music
  11. court — of a king
  12. race — the arms race
  13. ball — a dance
  14. swing — in golf
  15. court — of law
  16. swing — to play on
  17. bass — the fish
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bound — certain
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. court — for sport
  22. race — humankind
  23. race — a contest
  24. bound — tied together

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