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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 120 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: wound · bank · rest · bass · pass · land · spell · mark

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. land — ground
  3. spell — letters
  4. land — to come down
  5. wound — an injury
  6. rest — what's left
  7. wound — an injury
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. rest — a break
  11. bank — of a river
  12. pass — a permit
  13. bank — for money
  14. bass — the fish
  15. spell — magic
  16. mark — a trace
  17. mark — a grade
  18. rest — what's left
  19. spell — a short time
  20. land — a country
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. bank — for money
  24. pass — to succeed

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