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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: coach · net · field · face · bass · content · straw · rush

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — happy
  3. net — after costs
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. face — part of the head
  6. bass — low music
  7. net — for catching
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. field — for sport
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. field — a subject
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. face — to point toward
  14. bass — the fish
  15. face — to confront
  16. field — farmland
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. net — in sport
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. content — the amount
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. rush — hurry
  24. coach — a trainer

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