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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bass — low music
  3. ball — a dance
  4. bat — the animal
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. mark — a trace
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. press — newspapers
  12. mark — a grade
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of law
  15. shower — rain
  16. press — a publisher
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. ball — a great time
  19. shower — to wash
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. press — to push
  23. court — of a king
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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