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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. charge — electricity
  5. spell — a short time
  6. stem — to come from
  7. dip — to sink
  8. charge — in control
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. hand — in cards
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. spell — magic
  15. bass — the fish
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. cold — an illness
  18. charge — a price
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. spell — letters
  21. hand — help
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bear — the animal

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