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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. bass — low music
  3. ground — a position
  4. spell — letters
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. sharp — clever
  7. spell — a short time
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. bat — the animal
  11. shower — to wash
  12. spell — magic
  13. craft — boats
  14. ground — the earth
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. craft — a skill
  22. shower — rain
  23. ground — crushed
  24. rush — hurry

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