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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: wind · wound · bass · bat · root · pitch · mate · roll

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. wind — moving air
  3. roll — a list
  4. bass — the fish
  5. wound — an injury
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. root — the cause
  10. root — of a plant
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — the animal
  16. mate — to breed
  17. pitch — completely
  18. mate — a partner
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. bass — low music
  22. root — of a word
  23. roll — a cake
  24. wound — an injury

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