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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. track — to keep track
  3. bass — low music
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. bass — the fish
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. race — humankind
  12. kick — in football
  13. fall — the season
  14. track — a song
  15. capital — money
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bark — to shout
  18. capital — a city
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. track — a path
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — the arms race
  24. capital — a big letter

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