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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. bass — low music
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. fine — all right
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. bark — to shout
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. rock — a stone
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. fine — high quality
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. bass — the fish
  24. trunk — of a tree

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