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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: cap · ground · toast · wind · season · bass · spell · rash

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. toast — bread
  3. rash — hasty
  4. spell — letters
  5. cap — a lid
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bass — the fish
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. spell — a short time
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. season — of the year
  14. bass — low music
  15. rash — a series
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. spell — magic
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. wind — moving air
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ground — a position
  22. season — in sport
  23. cap — a hat
  24. cap — of ice

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