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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. last — final
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bulb — for light
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. ball — a dance
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. craft — boats
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. file — a document
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. file — a tool
  16. bulb — for light
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. ball — a great time
  20. last — finally
  21. last — to go on
  22. craft — a skill
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. bass — the fish

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