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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 · wound · racket · tear · rock · lean · present · file

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. tear — from crying
  3. file — a tool
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. file — a document
  7. lean — thin
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. file — a line of people
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. present — the time now
  15. bass — low music
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — to bend
  18. wound — an injury
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. present — there
  21. present — a gift
  22. rock — a stone
  23. bass — the fish
  24. racket — for tennis

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