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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. degree — from a university
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bass — low music
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. degree — temperature
  7. object — to protest
  8. bass — the fish
  9. present — a gift
  10. present — there
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. object — a thing
  15. object — an aim
  16. degree — an amount
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. present — the time now
  19. row — a line
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. row — to paddle
  24. nail — for a hammer

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