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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bat — the animal
  3. club — for dancing
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. club — for golf
  10. branch — a division
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. bass — the fish
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — to come from
  17. bear — the animal
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bass — low music
  22. cold — an illness
  23. club — a group
  24. stem — of a plant

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