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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. press — to push
  3. ground — a position
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. face — to confront
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. press — a publisher
  8. shower — rain
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. press — newspapers
  12. shower — to wash
  13. scale — in music
  14. ground — the earth
  15. bass — the fish
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. game — wild animals
  19. face — to point toward
  20. ground — crushed
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. face — part of the head
  23. game — a match
  24. scale — size or range

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