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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: pit · capital · bowl · saw · bass · lie · prune · cold

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. saw — the tool
  6. lie — to recline
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a city
  11. cold — an illness
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. pit — in a race
  19. prune — to trim
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. pit — a hole
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. lie — an untruth

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