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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: tear · clip · field · bass · deal · date · rash · wave

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. clip — for paper
  4. tear — to rip
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bass — the fish
  8. field — for sport
  9. tear — from crying
  10. field — a subject
  11. bass — low music
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rash — a series
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. deal — to handle
  19. date — the fruit
  20. field — farmland
  21. rash — hasty
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. rash — on the skin

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