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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. face — part of the head
  4. spring — a coil
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. bound — certain
  7. face — to confront
  8. kid — to tease
  9. fall — the season
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. fall — to drop
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — the season
  14. bound — tied together
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — a division
  18. fall — to drop
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bass — the fish
  22. face — to point toward
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. kid — child

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