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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. saw — the tool
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. bass — the fish
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. pit — in a race
  12. object — to protest
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. object — an aim
  15. pit — a hole
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — in cards
  18. season — of the year
  19. object — a thing
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. season — in sport
  22. saw — the tool
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. sharp — clever

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