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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. race — humankind
  3. craft — boats
  4. spring — a coil
  5. race — a contest
  6. wind — moving air
  7. rash — hasty
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. wind — moving air
  11. race — the arms race
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. kid — child
  15. rash — a series
  16. craft — a skill
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — of water
  19. bass — the fish
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — to tease
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. craft — a handicraft

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