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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. season — in sport
  3. face — to confront
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. ball — a dance
  6. bass — the fish
  7. capital — a city
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. face — part of the head
  11. spring — a coil
  12. face — to point toward
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. bass — low music
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. ball — a great time
  18. spring — of water
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. spring — the season
  21. sharp — clever
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. season — of the year
  24. capital — money

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