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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 120 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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — the fish
  3. bass — low music
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. fall — to drop
  6. craft — a skill
  7. tear — from crying
  8. shower — to wash
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. shower — rain
  11. tear — from crying
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. fall — the season
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. fall — to drop
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. tear — to rip
  19. row — a line
  20. row — to paddle
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. mine — for digging
  24. craft — boats

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