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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 120 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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. bass — low music
  4. tear — from crying
  5. scale — size or range
  6. swing — in golf
  7. bass — the fish
  8. saw — the tool
  9. pound — a weight
  10. scale — in music
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. saw — the tool
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. swing — to play on
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. lean — thin
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. tear — to rip
  22. swing — music
  23. lean — to bend
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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