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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. rock — music
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. ground — crushed
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. wake — a trail
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. drill — a practice
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. sharp — clever
  14. last — to go on
  15. drill — the tool
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bass — low music
  18. last — final
  19. rock — a stone
  20. bass — the fish
  21. drill — army training
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — the earth
  24. last — finally

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