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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. key — for a lock
  3. cold — an illness
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. spring — of water
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mark — a grade
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cold — not warm
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. bass — the fish
  12. key — in music
  13. key — the most important part
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. mark — a trace
  17. wound — an injury
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — the season
  20. bass — low music
  21. board — to get on
  22. board — a committee
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. wound — an injury

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