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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wind — moving air
  4. perch — the fish
  5. chip — for betting
  6. chip — to eat
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. wind — moving air
  9. kid — child
  10. file — a document
  11. cap — of ice
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. file — a line of people
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. cap — a hat
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. cap — a lid
  22. file — a tool
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bass — the fish

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