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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 play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. field — farmland
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. field — for sport
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. ball — a dance
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. staff — a stick
  10. field — a subject
  11. wind — moving air
  12. drill — a practice
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. staff — employees
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. staff — employees
  18. mine — for digging
  19. wind — moving air
  20. drill — the tool
  21. bass — low music
  22. bass — the fish
  23. drill — army training
  24. ball — a great time

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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