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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 120 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. track — a song
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. wake — a trail
  6. rush — hurry
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. track — to keep track
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chest — a box
  17. mate — a partner
  18. hand — help
  19. mate — a friend
  20. mate — to breed
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. track — a path
  23. bass — the fish
  24. hand — in cards

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