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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. bass — low music
  4. bank — for money
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — money
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. ground — crushed
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. bank — of a river
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. ground — a position
  17. capital — a city
  18. bat — the animal
  19. game — a match
  20. bank — for money
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. ground — the earth
  23. bass — the fish
  24. game — wild animals

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