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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. band — a music group
  3. face — to point toward
  4. band — a ring
  5. present — a gift
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. game — a match
  9. spell — magic
  10. face — part of the head
  11. game — wild animals
  12. field — farmland
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. spell — letters
  16. bass — low music
  17. spell — a short time
  18. present — the time now
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bass — the fish
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. face — to confront
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. present — there

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