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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 116 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. ground — crushed
  4. fall — to drop
  5. ground — the earth
  6. fall — to drop
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. prune — to trim
  10. fine — all right
  11. bass — the fish
  12. prune — to trim
  13. fall — the season
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. ground — a position
  16. pitch — completely
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. fine — high quality
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. cell — in biology
  23. bass — low music
  24. bass — the instrument

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