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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. field — farmland
  3. bass — the fish
  4. face — to point toward
  5. field — a subject
  6. face — to confront
  7. bank — for money
  8. firm — steady
  9. face — part of the head
  10. shower — rain
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. bank — of a river
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. firm — a company
  17. firm — decided
  18. field — for sport
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — to wash
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bank — for money
  24. bat — in an idiom

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