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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: saw · cold · bass · rest · pit · track · wind · mine

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  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. rest — what's left
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. saw — the tool
  4. track — a path
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bass — low music
  8. saw — the tool
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rest — what's left
  11. pit — a hole
  12. bass — the fish
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. pit — in a race
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rest — a break
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. track — a song
  22. track — to keep track
  23. mine — for digging
  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