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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. spring — of water
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. bass — low music
  7. cap — a lid
  8. wake — a trail
  9. spring — a coil
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. wound — an injury
  12. chair — a leader
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — after costs
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. cap — a hat
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. spring — the season
  21. cap — of ice
  22. net — in sport
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sports field

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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