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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bat — the animal
  3. root — of a word
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. root — the cause
  9. file — a document
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. scale — in music
  12. pound — a weight
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. file — a tool
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. scale — size or range
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. root — of a plant
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. stem — to come from
  21. bass — the fish
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. file — a line of people

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