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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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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 · race · prune · bay · land · lash · wind · bore

  1. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. bass — low music
  5. bore — to tire
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. prune — to trim
  10. race — a contest
  11. wind — moving air
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. wind — moving air
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. land — a country
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. land — to come down
  20. land — ground
  21. race — the arms race
  22. race — humankind
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. bass — the fish

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