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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: suit · land · wound · fall · bass · bat · ground · saw

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. ground — crushed
  3. land — a country
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. ground — a position
  8. saw — the tool
  9. land — to come down
  10. suit — to fit
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. fall — the season
  13. saw — the tool
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. wound — an injury
  16. suit — in cards
  17. wound — an injury
  18. ground — the earth
  19. land — ground
  20. bass — the fish
  21. bat — the animal
  22. suit — clothes
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. bat — in an idiom

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