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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: bass · roll · bay · rush · tear · rash · pitcher · wound

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. tear — to rip
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rash — a series
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. bass — low music
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bass — the fish
  13. tear — from crying
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. rash — hasty
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. wound — an injury
  20. rush — hurry
  21. roll — a list
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. rush — a thrill

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