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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. present — the time now
  3. bass — low music
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. race — a contest
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. present — a gift
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. race — humankind
  14. bat — the animal
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. band — a music group
  17. race — the arms race
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. present — there
  20. bass — the fish
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. band — a ring

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