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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 120 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: cold · staff · ground · pop · game · chest · bass · pitch

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. staff — employees
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. pitch — completely
  5. staff — a stick
  6. game — wild animals
  7. pop — soda
  8. ground — a position
  9. ground — crushed
  10. pop — to visit
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. chest — a box
  14. pop — music
  15. bass — the fish
  16. chest — of your body
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. chest — of your body
  19. ground — the earth
  20. game — a match
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — an illness
  23. staff — employees
  24. pitch — a sports field

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