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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 116 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: bass · band · game · perch · field · prune · press · calf

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. prune — to trim
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bass — low music
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. press — a publisher
  7. field — farmland
  8. game — a match
  9. bass — the fish
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. press — to push
  12. perch — the fish
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. band — a ring
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. field — a subject
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. field — for sport
  21. prune — to trim
  22. press — newspapers
  23. game — wild animals
  24. prune — the fruit

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