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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 120 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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. tear — from crying
  3. present — the time now
  4. bass — the fish
  5. rash — a series
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. bass — low music
  8. tear — to rip
  9. rash — hasty
  10. mug — a face
  11. pitch — completely
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. mug — to rob
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. present — a gift
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bat — the animal
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. tear — from crying
  22. present — there
  23. mug — a cup
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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