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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 120 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 · racket · land · fork · wind · row · wake · game

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wake — a trail
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. land — a country
  7. bass — the fish
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. land — to come down
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — a match
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. fork — in a road
  14. land — ground
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. game — wild animals
  18. row — to paddle
  19. bass — low music
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. wind — moving air
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. wind — to turn a key

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