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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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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 · mate · wake · rock · wind · cell · trunk · bat

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. rock — music
  3. cell — in biology
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. bass — the fish
  10. wake — a trail
  11. mate — to breed
  12. mate — a partner
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. bass — low music
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. mate — a friend
  19. wind — moving air
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cell — a phone
  24. rock — a stone

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