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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: dip · field · bass · board · cold · wave · lie · ball

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. field — farmland
  3. bass — the fish
  4. board — a committee
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. lie — to recline
  7. dip — to sink
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. field — for sport
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. ball — a dance
  13. field — a subject
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. board — to get on
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. ball — a great time
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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