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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. bass — low music
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bass — the fish
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. ground — crushed
  9. ground — the earth
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kick — in football
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. ground — a position
  16. scale — size or range
  17. cold — not warm
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. rush — hurry
  20. cold — an illness
  21. scale — in music
  22. tube — a container
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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