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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. sharp — clever
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. mate — a partner
  7. bass — low music
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. mate — a friend
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bass — the fish
  16. branch — a division
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. stock — goods
  19. pit — a hole
  20. mate — to breed
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. band — a music group
  23. stock — shares
  24. pit — in a race

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