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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. bass — low music
  5. field — a subject
  6. ground — crushed
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. wind — moving air
  10. degree — temperature
  11. ground — the earth
  12. field — farmland
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. wind — moving air
  15. field — for sport
  16. ground — a position
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. bass — the fish
  23. degree — an amount
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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