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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 116 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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — the season
  7. sharp — clever
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — to get on
  10. wake — a trail
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. spring — a coil
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. bass — the fish
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. capital — money
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. capital — a city
  24. bat — the animal

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