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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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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: capital · bass · wake · squash · trunk · pitcher · tear · net

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. tear — from crying
  5. squash — the sport
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bass — low music
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. wake — a trail
  14. bass — the fish
  15. capital — money
  16. net — after costs
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. net — in sport
  20. capital — a city
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. squash — to crush
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. net — for catching

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