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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · arm · straw · wake · trunk · ball · bass · cold

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bass — low music
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. wake — a trail
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. cold — not warm
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. ball — a dance
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. wind — moving air
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. wind — moving air
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. ball — a great time

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