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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. shower — to wash
  4. court — of law
  5. bat — the animal
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. mate — a friend
  8. bass — the fish
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. row — a line
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. stock — shares
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bass — low music
  15. board — a committee
  16. shower — rain
  17. court — of a king
  18. mate — a partner
  19. court — for sport
  20. board — to get on
  21. stock — goods
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. mate — to breed
  24. row — to paddle

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