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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. tube — the underground
  8. net — for catching
  9. drill — the tool
  10. drill — a practice
  11. drill — army training
  12. degree — an amount
  13. pop — to visit
  14. tube — a container
  15. bass — low music
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. net — in sport
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pop — music
  20. pop — soda
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. cold — an illness
  24. net — after costs

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