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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 · date · net · bat · shower · bass · ground · tear

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bass — the fish
  6. ground — a position
  7. wake — a trail
  8. net — for catching
  9. tear — to rip
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — the fruit
  12. shower — rain
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. tear — from crying
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. ground — the earth
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — after costs
  23. bass — low music
  24. ground — crushed

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