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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 · rest · present · mark · race · land · hide · wind

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. rest — a break
  4. race — humankind
  5. land — to come down
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. wind — moving air
  9. land — a country
  10. land — ground
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. bass — the fish
  13. mark — a grade
  14. race — a contest
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bass — low music
  17. race — the arms race
  18. rest — what's left
  19. present — a gift
  20. mark — a trace
  21. rest — what's left
  22. present — the time now
  23. present — there
  24. hide — animal skin

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