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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. land — to come down
  3. bass — the fish
  4. land — ground
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. land — a country
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. hand — help
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. pitch — completely
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. snap — to click
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. hand — in cards
  17. rest — what's left
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. rest — a break
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. branch — a division
  24. rest — what's left

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