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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — low music
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — a coil
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. track — a song
  7. game — a match
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. track — to keep track
  10. press — to push
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wind — moving air
  13. press — newspapers
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. game — wild animals
  19. spring — the season
  20. press — a publisher
  21. prune — to trim
  22. track — a path
  23. bass — the fish
  24. wake — a trail

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