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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. race — a contest
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. cold — an illness
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. tube — a container
  12. bass — the fish
  13. wound — an injury
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. race — humankind
  16. ground — the earth
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. tube — the underground
  19. dip — to sink
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — crushed
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wound — an injury
  24. race — the arms race

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