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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. land — a country
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. bass — the fish
  8. pitch — completely
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. craft — boats
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. chair — a leader
  14. spring — of water
  15. land — ground
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. land — to come down
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. craft — a skill
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. spring — the season

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