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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: land · face · scale · stem · fan · game · bound · bass

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. face — to point toward
  3. game — wild animals
  4. land — ground
  5. game — a match
  6. bass — low music
  7. face — part of the head
  8. land — a country
  9. bass — the fish
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — in music
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. bound — certain
  16. face — to confront
  17. bound — tied together
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. stem — to come from
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. bound — obliged
  23. scale — size or range
  24. stem — of a plant

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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