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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: row · wound · mine · bat · lean · suit · bass · date

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. suit — in cards
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bass — low music
  5. wound — an injury
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bass — the fish
  8. date — the fruit
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. row — a line
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. wound — an injury
  14. lean — thin
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — to bend
  18. bat — the animal
  19. row — to paddle
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. suit — clothes
  23. suit — to fit
  24. date — on the calendar

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