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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: fine · racket · bass · wound · tear · land · bark · race

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. wound — an injury
  4. fine — high quality
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bass — low music
  7. tear — to rip
  8. land — to come down
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — humankind
  13. bass — the fish
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. land — a country
  17. bark — to shout
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. race — a contest
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. wound — an injury
  22. land — ground
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. fine — a penalty

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