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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 112 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. drill — army training
  3. mate — a partner
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. mate — a friend
  8. wind — moving air
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. drill — a practice
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bass — low music
  13. scale — in music
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. drill — the tool
  22. scale — size or range
  23. mine — for digging
  24. cold — an illness

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