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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. net — for catching
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. field — farmland
  12. scale — size or range
  13. scale — in music
  14. net — in sport
  15. plane — a tool
  16. mine — for digging
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. mark — a grade
  19. mark — a trace
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — a subject
  22. net — after costs
  23. bass — low music
  24. plane — an aircraft

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