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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. wake — a trail
  3. bass — low music
  4. rock — music
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. cell — a phone
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. wind — moving air
  10. file — a tool
  11. rush — hurry
  12. file — a document
  13. mate — to breed
  14. mate — a friend
  15. rock — a stone
  16. mate — a partner
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bass — the fish
  20. file — a line of people
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. cell — in biology

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