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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bass — low music
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. key — the most important part
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kick — in football
  8. key — in music
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — after costs
  11. key — for a lock
  12. field — a subject
  13. march — the month
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — the animal
  16. net — for catching
  17. field — for sport
  18. march — music
  19. lean — thin
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. march — the month
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. lean — to bend
  24. field — farmland

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