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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: track · face · bass · content · patient · field · trunk · stock

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. track — a song
  3. field — farmland
  4. bass — the fish
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. track — to keep track
  8. face — to point toward
  9. stock — goods
  10. content — happy
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. track — a path
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. field — a subject
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. face — to confront
  17. stock — shares
  18. field — for sport
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. face — part of the head
  22. content — the amount
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. patient — a sick person

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