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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. wound — an injury
  3. ground — a position
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. court — of law
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. row — a line
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. deal — to handle
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — low music
  15. ground — crushed
  16. wound — an injury
  17. court — for sport
  18. face — to confront
  19. ground — the earth
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. face — to point toward
  22. court — of a king
  23. row — to paddle
  24. face — part of the head

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