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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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: row · bass · deal · land · degree · wind · last · pop

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. pop — to visit
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. degree — from a university
  5. deal — to handle
  6. pop — music
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. last — finally
  9. degree — an amount
  10. land — ground
  11. row — a line
  12. bass — low music
  13. land — a country
  14. wind — moving air
  15. last — final
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. degree — temperature
  19. land — to come down
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. row — to paddle
  23. pop — soda
  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