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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 speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. lean — thin
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. bass — low music
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wind — moving air
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. branch — a division
  10. hand — help
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. lean — to bend
  14. root — of a plant
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. root — the cause
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. bass — the fish
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. hand — in cards
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wind — moving air
  23. root — of a word
  24. branch — of a bank

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