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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: press · cold · bound · fan · foot · bass · bat · race

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. bass — low music
  3. cold — not warm
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. race — a contest
  6. bound — tied together
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. press — a publisher
  11. press — newspapers
  12. bound — obliged
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bat — the animal
  15. foot — a measure
  16. bass — the fish
  17. press — to push
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. bound — certain
  21. race — humankind
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

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