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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. wound — an injury
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fall — to drop
  6. squash — to crush
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. branch — a division
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. fall — the season
  12. date — the fruit
  13. wound — an injury
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. wake — a trail
  18. squash — the sport
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bass — low music
  22. bass — the fish
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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