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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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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. sharp — clever
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. bulb — for light
  8. tube — a container
  9. pound — a weight
  10. wound — an injury
  11. tube — the underground
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wake — a trail
  19. bulb — for light
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bass — low music
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. bass — the fish

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