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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bass — low music
  3. band — a ring
  4. drill — army training
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. wind — moving air
  7. march — music
  8. bass — the fish
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. spell — a short time
  11. snap — to click
  12. spell — letters
  13. march — the month
  14. spell — magic
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. roll — a list
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. drill — the tool
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. roll — a cake
  21. band — a music group
  22. wind — moving air
  23. drill — a practice
  24. march — the month

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