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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. season — of the year
  3. ground — the earth
  4. season — in sport
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bass — low music
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bank — for money
  10. cold — not warm
  11. ground — a position
  12. bank — of a river
  13. branch — a division
  14. land — ground
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bank — for money
  19. ground — crushed
  20. land — a country
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. wound — an injury
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. land — to come down

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