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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bass — the fish
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. drill — army training
  8. race — humankind
  9. cold — not warm
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. race — a contest
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — a practice
  15. cold — an illness
  16. track — to keep track
  17. race — the arms race
  18. prune — to trim
  19. track — a path
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. prune — to trim
  22. track — a song
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. cold — the Cold War

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