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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: snap · cold · tear · bay · bass · row · tube · stand

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. tear — to rip
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. stand — to bear
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — from crying
  14. snap — to click
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. tube — a container
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. row — to paddle
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. cold — not warm
  22. row — a line
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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