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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. cold — an illness
  4. ground — a position
  5. stock — goods
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. chair — a leader
  9. ground — crushed
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stock — shares
  12. bass — the fish
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. rock — a stone
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. rock — music
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. ground — the earth
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. ruler — for measuring

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