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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 ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. craft — boats
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rest — a break
  6. net — in sport
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. bass — the fish
  9. file — a line of people
  10. dip — to sink
  11. net — for catching
  12. net — after costs
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. file — a document
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. deal — to handle
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. cold — an illness
  20. rest — what's left
  21. bass — low music
  22. file — a tool
  23. craft — a skill
  24. craft — a handicraft

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