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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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. pound — to hit hard
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. rash — hasty
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. wake — a trail
  10. branch — a division
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. rash — a series
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. pound — a weight
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. drill — a practice
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. drill — the tool
  23. bass — the fish
  24. drill — army training

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