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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cold — not warm
  4. snap — to click
  5. tube — a container
  6. tube — the underground
  7. mug — to rob
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. track — a song
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. track — a path
  18. track — to keep track
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. mug — a cup
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mug — a face

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