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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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Word bank
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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: bass · bay · band · pound · sharp · wound · hand · snap

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. band — a ring
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to click
  5. band — a music group
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. bass — the fish
  12. pound — a weight
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. wound — an injury
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. hand — in cards
  22. sharp — clever
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bass — low music

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