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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. pop — to visit
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. date — the fruit
  5. field — for sport
  6. face — to confront
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. field — a subject
  10. deal — to handle
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. field — farmland
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. face — to point toward
  16. bass — low music
  17. bark — to shout
  18. pop — music
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. face — part of the head
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. pop — soda

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