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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
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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: cold · field · bass · rush · season · stock · fine · tube

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. field — for sport
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. cold — not warm
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. field — farmland
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fine — all right
  10. bass — low music
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. tube — the underground
  13. rush — hurry
  14. stock — shares
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. stock — goods
  17. season — in sport
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. tube — a container
  22. fine — high quality
  23. bass — the fish
  24. field — a subject

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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