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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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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: present · mug · bass · face · net · cold · pitcher · trunk

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. cold — an illness
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. present — the time now
  6. present — a gift
  7. bass — the fish
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. mug — to rob
  10. face — part of the head
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. cold — not warm
  13. present — there
  14. net — after costs
  15. mug — a cup
  16. face — to point toward
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. face — to confront
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. net — in sport
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. net — for catching
  24. bass — low music

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