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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: cell · stand · date · bass · scale · cold · trunk · face

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. cold — an illness
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — the fruit
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. stand — to bear
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. bass — the fish
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. face — to confront
  12. scale — in music
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. cell — a phone
  17. face — part of the head
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. bass — low music
  22. cell — in biology
  23. scale — size or range
  24. face — to point toward

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