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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. file — a tool
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bank — of a river
  5. face — part of the head
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. last — to go on
  8. face — to confront
  9. shower — rain
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. face — to point toward
  12. bank — for money
  13. last — final
  14. deal — to handle
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. file — a document
  19. shower — to wash
  20. bank — for money
  21. last — finally
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. bass — low music
  24. file — a line of people

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