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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. net — after costs
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. bass — low music
  5. wound — an injury
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — soda
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. dip — to sink
  14. stand — to bear
  15. pop — music
  16. net — for catching
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bass — the fish
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. sharp — clever
  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