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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. roll — a cake
  3. season — of the year
  4. present — a gift
  5. roll — a list
  6. race — humankind
  7. season — in sport
  8. pop — soda
  9. pop — to visit
  10. present — there
  11. key — for a lock
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. race — a contest
  14. present — the time now
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. degree — temperature
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bass — low music
  20. race — the arms race
  21. key — the most important part
  22. pop — music
  23. key — in music
  24. degree — from a university

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