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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. band — a music group
  4. bass — low music
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bass — the fish
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. branch — a division
  10. field — farmland
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. field — a subject
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. cell — in biology
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. cell — a phone
  21. field — for sport
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. band — a ring
  24. jam — a tight spot

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