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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. track — a song
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. wound — an injury
  5. track — to keep track
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. cold — an illness
  8. track — a path
  9. bass — low music
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. roll — a list
  13. ball — a great time
  14. squash — the sport
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. bass — the fish
  17. cold — not warm
  18. roll — a cake
  19. wound — an injury
  20. pitch — completely
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. squash — to crush
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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