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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 · land · sharp · prune · hand · fall · net · pop

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. bass — the fish
  3. fall — to drop
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. land — a country
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. land — to come down
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. net — in sport
  11. fall — the season
  12. pop — soda
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. bass — low music
  15. hand — help
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pop — to visit
  18. prune — to trim
  19. fall — to drop
  20. sharp — clever
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — for catching
  23. hand — in cards
  24. land — ground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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