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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. shower — rain
  4. ground — crushed
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. bound — certain
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. shower — to wash
  12. rush — hurry
  13. ground — a position
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. stock — shares
  16. capital — money
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bass — the fish
  20. stock — goods
  21. bound — tied together
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. capital — a city
  24. ground — the earth

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