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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: race · bass · club · pitcher · spring · bat · chip · board

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  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. pitcher — in baseball
  3. board — a committee
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. chip — for betting
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — of water
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bass — the fish
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. race — humankind
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. club — for dancing
  15. spring — the season
  16. club — a group
  17. club — for golf
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. chip — to eat
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. race — a contest
  22. board — to get on
  23. chip — in a computer
  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