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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: cold · squash · mug · bowl · last · bass · roll · bark

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. last — final
  3. mug — a face
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bass — low music
  6. cold — an illness
  7. squash — to crush
  8. roll — a cake
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. squash — the sport
  11. cold — not warm
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. last — to go on
  15. mug — a cup
  16. mug — to rob
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. roll — a list
  21. last — finally
  22. bark — to shout
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bass — the instrument

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