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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. sharp — clever
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. mate — to breed
  6. bound — certain
  7. spring — the season
  8. mate — a partner
  9. spring — a coil
  10. last — to go on
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bound — tied together
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. rush — hurry
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. bass — the fish
  17. spring — of water
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. mine — for digging
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. mate — a friend
  23. bound — obliged
  24. sharp — with an edge

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