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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. sharp — clever
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. drill — the tool
  8. pitch — completely
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. drill — a practice
  14. rest — a break
  15. drill — army training
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wound — an injury
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. rest — what's left
  23. bass — the fish
  24. wind — moving air

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