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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. game — wild animals
  3. bass — low music
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. tube — a container
  7. staff — employees
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — in sport
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cap — a lid
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cap — a hat
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. bass — the fish
  18. tube — the underground
  19. game — a match
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. net — after costs
  22. staff — employees
  23. cell — a phone
  24. bass — the instrument

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