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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. mine — for digging
  3. track — a path
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. snap — to click
  6. field — for sport
  7. track — to keep track
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. present — the time now
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. present — a gift
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. bass — the fish
  19. present — there
  20. field — a subject
  21. track — a song
  22. field — farmland
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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