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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bass — the fish
  4. root — of a plant
  5. file — a line of people
  6. game — a match
  7. root — of a word
  8. bank — for money
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. root — the cause
  11. file — a tool
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bank — for money
  14. snap — to click
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. shower — to wash
  17. bass — low music
  18. bank — of a river
  19. shower — rain
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. file — a document
  22. game — wild animals
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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