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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  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. bass — low music
  2. march — music
  3. root — of a word
  4. march — the month
  5. spring — of water
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. bass — the fish
  8. kick — in football
  9. ball — a great time
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. spring — a coil
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. march — the month
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. ball — a dance
  18. bat — the animal
  19. spring — the season
  20. tear — from crying
  21. root — the cause
  22. root — of a plant
  23. tear — from crying
  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