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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 surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. bass — low music
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. stock — shares
  7. field — farmland
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. field — for sport
  10. stock — goods
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. tear — from crying
  13. plane — a tool
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. bass — the fish
  16. field — a subject
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wake — a trail
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cold — an illness
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. tear — to rip

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