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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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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: bass · ground · net · sharp · pit · row · saw · race

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. net — in sport
  4. row — a line
  5. ground — crushed
  6. saw — the tool
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. bass — low music
  9. ground — the earth
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pit — in a race
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. race — humankind
  15. row — to paddle
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — for catching
  18. ground — a position
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. race — the arms race
  22. saw — the tool
  23. race — a contest
  24. sharp — clever

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