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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.

Make a worksheet

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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468
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: safe · fall · mine · bass · file · bark · mate · wind

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. mate — a partner
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bass — low music
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. fall — to drop
  8. file — a line of people
  9. mate — to breed
  10. mate — a friend
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. file — a document
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. fall — the season
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — moving air
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. file — a tool
  23. mine — for digging
  24. bass — the instrument

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