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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. band — a music group
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. band — a ring
  8. branch — a division
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. bass — the fish
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. bass — low music
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. scale — size or range
  17. court — of a king
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. court — of law
  20. scale — in music
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. court — for sport
  23. bat — the animal
  24. hide — animal skin

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