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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — low music
  3. staff — employees
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. staff — a stick
  6. band — a ring
  7. cap — of ice
  8. staff — employees
  9. cap — a lid
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. season — of the year
  12. land — to come down
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. land — ground
  16. band — a music group
  17. cap — a hat
  18. bat — the animal
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. season — in sport
  21. land — a country
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. season — to add flavour

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