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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. rush — hurry
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. game — wild animals
  8. net — after costs
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. game — a match
  12. bass — low music
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. net — in sport
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. hand — help
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. net — for catching
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wake — a trail
  21. hand — in cards
  22. dip — to sink
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. dip — a sauce

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