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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 120 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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. stock — goods
  3. game — wild animals
  4. pop — soda
  5. file — a tool
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. pop — music
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. lean — thin
  12. file — a document
  13. mark — a grade
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. pop — to visit
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. game — a match
  20. bass — the fish
  21. stock — shares
  22. file — a line of people
  23. lean — to bend
  24. mark — a trace

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