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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. bat — the animal
  4. ball — a great time
  5. shower — rain
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. object — an aim
  8. roll — a cake
  9. roll — a list
  10. field — for sport
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. ball — a dance
  15. object — to protest
  16. field — farmland
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. field — a subject
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. object — a thing
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bass — the fish
  23. shower — to wash
  24. mine — belonging to me

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