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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. spring — the season
  4. spell — letters
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to confront
  7. spell — a short time
  8. march — the month
  9. spring — a coil
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. fall — to drop
  12. spring — of water
  13. bass — the fish
  14. kid — to tease
  15. face — to point toward
  16. spell — magic
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. bass — low music
  19. kid — child
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — the season

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