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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bass — the fish
  5. last — final
  6. bass — low music
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. sharp — clever
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. capital — a city
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to click
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bound — obliged
  16. bound — certain
  17. capital — money
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. last — finally
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. last — to go on
  22. bound — tied together
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. fan — a supporter

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