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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bass — low music
  3. cap — a hat
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wound — an injury
  6. hand — in cards
  7. saw — the tool
  8. hand — help
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. tear — to rip
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. cap — of ice
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cap — a lid
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. saw — the tool

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