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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 120 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. land — to come down
  4. ground — the earth
  5. rash — a series
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. rash — hasty
  9. bass — low music
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — a contest
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. land — a country
  16. bass — the fish
  17. ground — crushed
  18. foot — a measure
  19. wind — moving air
  20. ground — a position
  21. march — music
  22. race — humankind
  23. wind — moving air
  24. foot — the bottom

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