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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 116 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: fall · bass · snap · game · tear · mark · calf · row

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. bass — low music
  4. fall — to drop
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. tear — to rip
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. tear — from crying
  9. row — to paddle
  10. game — wild animals
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — the season
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. mark — a trace
  16. game — a match
  17. tear — from crying
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. row — a line
  20. mark — a grade
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. snap — to click
  24. game — a kind of play

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