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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bass — low music
  3. spell — letters
  4. land — a country
  5. stand — to bear
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. drill — the tool
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. drill — army training
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. spell — magic
  13. scale — in music
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. dip — to sink
  16. spell — a short time
  17. drill — a practice
  18. bass — the fish
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. land — to come down
  22. scale — size or range
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. dip — a sauce

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