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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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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: nail · dip · land · saw · bound · bass · file · rush

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. bound — tied together
  4. bass — the fish
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. land — ground
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. saw — the tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. bound — obliged
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bound — certain
  13. land — a country
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. land — to come down
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. file — a document
  19. dip — to sink
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. rush — hurry
  22. file — a tool
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. bass — the instrument

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