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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: bass · tear · game · foot · prune · drill · straw · cap

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. drill — a practice
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bass — the fish
  7. tear — from crying
  8. prune — to trim
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. prune — to trim
  12. foot — a measure
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cap — a lid
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. cap — a hat
  20. game — wild animals
  21. cap — of ice
  22. game — a match
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — 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