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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 play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — low music
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. root — of a word
  5. charge — a price
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. charge — electricity
  8. dip — to sink
  9. present — a gift
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — for sport
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. present — there
  14. bass — the fish
  15. pound — a weight
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. charge — in control
  18. present — the time now
  19. root — of a plant
  20. field — a subject
  21. root — the cause
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — a practice

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