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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. field — for sport
  4. bank — of a river
  5. bass — the fish
  6. face — to confront
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. face — to point toward
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. face — part of the head
  11. bank — for money
  12. bat — the animal
  13. season — in sport
  14. land — a country
  15. land — ground
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. land — to come down
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — a subject
  20. bass — low music
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. bank — for money

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