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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. net — in sport
  5. snap — to click
  6. bass — low music
  7. mine — for digging
  8. net — for catching
  9. band — a music group
  10. bass — the fish
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tear — from crying
  13. band — a ring
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. net — after costs
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. pitch — completely
  19. tear — from crying
  20. track — to keep track
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. track — a song

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