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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. tear — from crying
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. track — a song
  8. bass — the fish
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. prune — to trim
  18. track — a path
  19. snap — to click
  20. degree — an amount
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bass — low music
  23. cell — in biology
  24. track — to keep track

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