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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bass — low music
  4. wake — a trail
  5. wind — moving air
  6. net — in sport
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. net — after costs
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. shower — to wash
  11. root — of a word
  12. bass — the fish
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. last — to go on
  16. shower — rain
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. root — of a plant
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. root — the cause
  21. last — finally
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. net — for catching
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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