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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. bank — of a river
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. cold — an illness
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. fall — the season
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. cold — not warm
  14. stock — goods
  15. bank — for money
  16. bank — for money
  17. prune — to trim
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stock — shares
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bass — low music
  24. bass — the fish

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