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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. land — a country
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. rush — hurry
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. stock — goods
  12. bass — low music
  13. capital — a city
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. scale — in music
  18. bass — the fish
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. stock — shares
  21. capital — money
  22. scale — size or range
  23. wind — moving air
  24. kick — with a leg

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