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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. face — to point toward
  5. last — finally
  6. cap — a hat
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cap — of ice
  9. stock — goods
  10. bear — the animal
  11. game — a match
  12. face — to confront
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bear — the animal
  15. face — part of the head
  16. last — final
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. field — for sport
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. last — to go on
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — farmland
  24. stock — shares

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