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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. track — to keep track
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. date — the fruit
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. row — a line
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. bass — the fish
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. capital — a city
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. track — a song
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. capital — money
  20. wake — a trail
  21. row — to paddle
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. track — a path
  24. bass — low music

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