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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: last · board · spring · scale · wake · stick · bass · cold

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. bass — the fish
  3. board — a committee
  4. last — final
  5. bass — low music
  6. scale — in music
  7. last — finally
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. cold — an illness
  10. scale — size or range
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. wake — a trail
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. spring — a coil
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. spring — of water
  17. cold — not warm
  18. board — to get on
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. last — to go on
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. spring — the season
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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