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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 120 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bass — low music
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. prune — to trim
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. prune — to trim
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. band — a music group
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. dip — to sink
  11. hand — help
  12. object — a thing
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. object — an aim
  15. bass — the fish
  16. object — to protest
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. hand — in cards
  19. wound — an injury
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. wound — an injury
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. dip — to dunk

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