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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bass — the fish
  3. last — final
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. wound — an injury
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. date — the fruit
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wound — an injury
  10. land — a country
  11. last — finally
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. hand — in cards
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. tube — a container
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. tube — the underground
  21. land — ground
  22. land — to come down
  23. last — to go on
  24. hand — help

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