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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 spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. bass — low music
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. pit — a hole
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. pit — in a race
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. degree — from a university
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. march — the month
  14. degree — an amount
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bass — the fish
  17. march — music
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. march — the month
  20. fork — in a road
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pitch — completely

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