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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 jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. bass — low music
  3. march — music
  4. ball — a great time
  5. band — a music group
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. ball — a dance
  8. capital — money
  9. swing — in golf
  10. game — wild animals
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. band — a ring
  13. game — a match
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. swing — to play on
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. march — the month
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. bass — the fish
  22. march — the month
  23. capital — a city
  24. ball — a round shape

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