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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: sharp · bass · spring · race · scale · pitcher · pound · track

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. track — to keep track
  6. spring — a coil
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. race — humankind
  9. pound — a weight
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. spring — the season
  12. race — a contest
  13. scale — size or range
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bass — the fish
  16. track — a song
  17. track — a path
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. sharp — clever
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. scale — in music
  23. spring — of water
  24. race — the arms race

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