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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. press — to push
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. spell — a short time
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. scale — size or range
  10. spell — letters
  11. scale — in music
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. press — a publisher
  15. bark — to shout
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. bass — the fish
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. stem — to come from
  21. spell — magic
  22. press — newspapers
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. stem — a stem cell

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