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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: wake · date · court · current · bass · pound · saw · ground

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. ground — crushed
  3. court — of a king
  4. date — the fruit
  5. ground — a position
  6. current — electric
  7. court — of law
  8. court — for sport
  9. saw — the tool
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. saw — the tool
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. ground — the earth
  21. current — of water
  22. pound — a weight
  23. current — happening now
  24. date — on the calendar

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