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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 spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. craft — a skill
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. craft — boats
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. fall — to drop
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. cell — in biology
  17. bass — low music
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. lie — to recline
  21. fall — to drop
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. fall — the season
  24. branch — of a bank

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