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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. last — final
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. last — finally
  5. drill — the tool
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. rush — hurry
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bark — to shout
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. land — to come down
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. drill — army training
  17. land — ground
  18. stock — goods
  19. last — to go on
  20. drill — a practice
  21. land — a country
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. stock — shares
  24. nail — for a hammer

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