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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. degree — an amount
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bass — low music
  6. degree — from a university
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wound — an injury
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. rash — hasty
  13. degree — temperature
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. chest — a box
  16. pass — a permit
  17. fall — to drop
  18. rash — a series
  19. club — for dancing
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. club — for golf
  23. club — a group
  24. bass — the fish

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