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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. board — to get on
  4. chest — of your body
  5. march — the month
  6. shower — rain
  7. march — the month
  8. shower — to wash
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — the tool
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. march — music
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. cap — a hat
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. cap — a lid
  20. sharp — clever
  21. cap — of ice
  22. board — a committee
  23. bass — the fish
  24. sharp — exactly

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