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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. band — a ring
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. bass — the fish
  6. mate — a partner
  7. shower — rain
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. bat — the animal
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. stock — goods
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. bass — low music
  16. band — a music group
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. stock — shares
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. shower — to wash
  21. mate — a friend
  22. mate — to breed
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. stock — a soup base

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