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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: rock · bass · dip · shower · bat · spell · leaves · file

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. rock — to move gently
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. rock — music
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. spell — letters
  7. spell — magic
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — to wash
  10. file — a tool
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. spell — a short time
  13. file — a document
  14. bass — the fish
  15. rock — a stone
  16. bass — low music
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. bat — the animal
  19. file — a line of people
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. dip — to sink
  23. bat — for baseball
  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