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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. club — a group
  3. stock — goods
  4. spring — the season
  5. bass — the fish
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. cap — a lid
  8. spring — of water
  9. stock — shares
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. cap — a hat
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. cap — of ice
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. mine — for digging
  20. spring — a coil
  21. dip — to sink
  22. club — for golf
  23. club — for dancing
  24. fork — in a road

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