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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bowl · face · cold · band · fan · bear · row · bass

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bass — the fish
  3. face — to point toward
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bear — the animal
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. band — a music group
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. face — to confront
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. cold — an illness
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. band — a ring
  19. row — to paddle
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — a line
  23. bass — low music
  24. face — part of the head

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