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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bass — low music
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. scale — size or range
  7. mug — to rob
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. mug — a face
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — in music
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. bass — the fish
  15. stem — to come from
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. mug — a cup
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. bulb — for light
  23. cold — not warm
  24. pitcher — a jug

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