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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 116 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. spring — the season
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. file — a line of people
  5. bass — the fish
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. file — a tool
  9. present — the time now
  10. present — a gift
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. present — there
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. spring — a coil
  20. wake — a trail
  21. spring — of water
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. file — a document

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