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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: kid · rock · key · field · bass · hand · fan · bark

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. key — the most important part
  4. key — in music
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. kid — child
  7. bass — the fish
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. field — for sport
  10. rock — a stone
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. key — for a lock
  13. rock — music
  14. kid — to tease
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. field — farmland
  20. hand — help
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. field — a subject
  24. hand — in cards

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