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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. tear — to rip
  4. wind — moving air
  5. season — of the year
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bound — tied together
  8. spring — of water
  9. object — to protest
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. tear — from crying
  12. object — an aim
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — the fruit
  16. bound — certain
  17. bound — obliged
  18. tear — from crying
  19. object — a thing
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bass — the fish
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — the season
  24. season — in sport

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