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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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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: fall · pop · hand · bass · mate · band · last · face

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. fall — the season
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. pop — soda
  6. mate — a partner
  7. last — finally
  8. last — final
  9. last — to go on
  10. pop — music
  11. face — to point toward
  12. bass — the fish
  13. face — part of the head
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mate — a friend
  16. fall — to drop
  17. band — a music group
  18. face — to confront
  19. fall — to drop
  20. hand — help
  21. bass — low music
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — in cards
  24. band — a ring

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