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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. degree — an amount
  3. present — there
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bass — the fish
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. wind — moving air
  8. staff — employees
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. present — the time now
  11. wind — moving air
  12. staff — employees
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of law
  15. staff — a stick
  16. court — of a king
  17. present — a gift
  18. land — to come down
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. land — a country
  21. land — ground
  22. hand — in cards
  23. degree — temperature
  24. hand — help

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