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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. present — a gift
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. face — part of the head
  5. tear — from crying
  6. present — there
  7. face — to point toward
  8. band — a music group
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. season — of the year
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a ring
  14. season — in sport
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. present — the time now
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bass — low music
  19. kid — to tease
  20. face — to confront
  21. kid — child
  22. tear — to rip
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. nail — for a hammer

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