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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 120 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. shower — rain
  4. rock — a stone
  5. bass — the fish
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bass — low music
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. field — a subject
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bark — to shout
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. field — for sport
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. field — farmland

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