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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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. fall — to drop
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. fall — to drop
  6. mark — a trace
  7. field — for sport
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. mark — a grade
  13. field — farmland
  14. bass — the fish
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. field — a subject
  20. fall — the season
  21. row — a line
  22. snap — to click
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. row — to paddle

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