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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 · bass · lean · wind · date · mine · hand · coach

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. hand — in cards
  4. wake — a trail
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. hand — help
  7. date — the fruit
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. mine — for digging
  13. lean — to bend
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bass — the fish
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bass — low music
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. wind — to turn a key

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