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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 120 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: pound · fan · last · tear · trunk · face · bass · kid

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  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. last — final
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. tear — to rip
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. last — to go on
  6. kid — child
  7. face — part of the head
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. face — to point toward
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. bass — low music
  14. tear — from crying
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. kid — to tease
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. face — to confront
  19. bass — the fish
  20. last — finally
  21. pound — a weight
  22. tear — from crying
  23. trunk — of a tree
  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