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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. bass — the fish
  3. bulb — for light
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. bass — low music
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. race — the arms race
  10. wake — a trail
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. field — a subject
  13. net — in sport
  14. wind — moving air
  15. field — farmland
  16. net — for catching
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. field — for sport
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — humankind
  24. net — after costs

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