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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. rash — a series
  3. race — the arms race
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. prune — to trim
  8. kid — to tease
  9. ground — crushed
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. race — humankind
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. rash — hasty
  14. bass — low music
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bat — the animal
  18. race — a contest
  19. prune — to trim
  20. pitch — completely
  21. ground — a position
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. bass — the fish
  24. kid — child

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