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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. ball — a dance
  4. object — to protest
  5. chest — of your body
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bass — the fish
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. game — a match
  10. stem — to come from
  11. field — for sport
  12. ball — a great time
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. drill — army training
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bass — low music
  17. chest — a box
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. chest — of your body
  20. object — a thing
  21. drill — a practice
  22. field — farmland
  23. object — an aim
  24. field — a subject

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