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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. cold — an illness
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. ground — the earth
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cue — for pool
  7. craft — a skill
  8. bass — the fish
  9. ground — crushed
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. craft — boats
  12. cue — a signal
  13. game — wild animals
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. game — a match
  18. cold — not warm
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. ground — a position
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. cue — a hint

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