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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  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 — low music
  2. bulb — for light
  3. craft — boats
  4. fall — the season
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bass — the fish
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. cell — a phone
  13. band — a ring
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. bulb — for light
  18. land — a country
  19. craft — a skill
  20. land — ground
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fall — to drop
  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