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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: rock · wound · spring · snap · bass · racket · pop · rash

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. spring — the season
  4. rock — music
  5. pop — to visit
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. rock — a stone
  12. bass — low music
  13. spring — a coil
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pop — music
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. bass — the fish
  19. spring — of water
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rash — a series
  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