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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — the fish
  4. rush — hurry
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. current — electric
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. drill — the tool
  9. current — happening now
  10. bat — the animal
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. drill — army training
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. row — to paddle
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — of your body
  19. row — a line
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. drill — a practice
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. current — of water
  24. nail — for a hammer

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