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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 120 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. spell — letters
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — to visit
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. staff — employees
  8. bass — the fish
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. pop — soda
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. rash — hasty
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. spell — a short time
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. rash — a series
  21. spell — magic
  22. staff — employees
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. staff — a stick

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