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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — the fish
  4. court — for sport
  5. race — the arms race
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bass — low music
  8. court — of a king
  9. wound — an injury
  10. band — a music group
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. race — humankind
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. dip — to sink
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a ring
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wake — a trail
  22. court — of law
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. race — a contest

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