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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. file — a line of people
  6. can — a tin
  7. bass — low music
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. chip — for betting
  10. can — a tin
  11. cold — not warm
  12. band — a ring
  13. file — a tool
  14. chip — to eat
  15. stem — to come from
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. file — a document
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. can — to be able to

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