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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. pop — soda
  4. season — in sport
  5. rash — hasty
  6. season — of the year
  7. cell — in biology
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. cell — a phone
  11. bass — the fish
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. bass — low music
  15. rash — a series
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. pop — music
  18. squash — the sport
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. pop — to visit
  21. sharp — clever
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. shower — rain
  24. squash — to crush

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