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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 · cell · stock · game · fork · bass · spring · rush

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. bass — the fish
  4. fork — in a road
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. cell — a phone
  9. rush — hurry
  10. game — a match
  11. cell — in biology
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. spring — the season
  14. game — wild animals
  15. stock — shares
  16. pit — in a race
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. spring — a coil
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. pit — a hole
  21. stock — goods
  22. spring — of water
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. stock — a soup base

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