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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: spring · game · wound · pitch · stock · cue · bass · face

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. cue — a hint
  3. face — part of the head
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cue — a signal
  6. face — to confront
  7. spring — of water
  8. stock — goods
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. spring — a coil
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. game — a match
  13. spring — the season
  14. cue — for pool
  15. game — wild animals
  16. stock — shares
  17. bass — the fish
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. face — to point toward
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. bass — low music
  23. pitch — completely
  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