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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. bass — low music
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. prune — to trim
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bass — the fish
  10. wind — moving air
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. shower — to wash
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. mark — a grade
  18. mark — a trace
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — the fruit
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. wake — a trail
  24. shower — rain

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