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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · degree · bass · club · lie · last · bark · fall

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. bass — the fish
  4. spring — a coil
  5. club — for dancing
  6. club — for golf
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. last — final
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. last — finally
  12. lie — to recline
  13. spring — of water
  14. club — a group
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. fall — to drop
  18. spring — the season
  19. fall — to drop
  20. degree — from a university
  21. last — to go on
  22. degree — temperature
  23. fall — the season
  24. degree — an amount

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