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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 116 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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. tube — the underground
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. spring — a coil
  6. game — wild animals
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. tube — a container
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. spring — of water
  12. bass — the fish
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. branch — a division
  16. game — a match
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. pound — a weight
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. wake — a trail
  23. deal — to handle
  24. spring — the season

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