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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 116 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: land · wake · straw · bass · bulb · tear · saw · pitcher

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. land — a country
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. bulb — for light
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. bulb — for light
  13. wake — a trail
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. bass — the fish
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. tear — to rip
  24. saw — the tool

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