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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.

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: wind · ground · rash · fall · hand · bass · key · pound

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. wind — moving air
  3. rash — a series
  4. hand — help
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. hand — in cards
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. fall — the season
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. ground — crushed
  13. key — the most important part
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. pound — a weight
  17. bass — low music
  18. fall — to drop
  19. bass — the fish
  20. key — in music
  21. fall — to drop
  22. key — for a lock
  23. rash — hasty
  24. ground — the earth

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