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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. field — a subject
  3. spring — the season
  4. staff — employees
  5. file — a tool
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bound — tied together
  9. fork — in a road
  10. spring — of water
  11. bound — certain
  12. file — a document
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. spring — a coil
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. bound — obliged
  18. field — for sport
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. staff — a stick
  21. staff — employees
  22. field — farmland
  23. file — a line of people
  24. fork — a garden tool

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