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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 116 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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. band — a music group
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. band — a ring
  11. content — happy
  12. bass — the fish
  13. content — the amount
  14. face — to point toward
  15. face — to confront
  16. bass — low music
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. kid — to tease
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. kid — child
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bowl — to roll

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