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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 124 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: vault · pop · press · bound · pitcher · race · bass · cold

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the fish
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — the arms race
  7. vault — a safe
  8. press — to push
  9. pop — music
  10. cold — an illness
  11. race — a contest
  12. press — newspapers
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. press — a publisher
  17. pop — soda
  18. bound — tied together
  19. bound — certain
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. bound — obliged
  24. pitcher — a jug

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