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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: bass · mine · face · last · kid · rock · fork · spring

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — low music
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. spring — of water
  6. face — part of the head
  7. bass — the fish
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — to tease
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. face — to confront
  12. fork — in a road
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. last — finally
  15. mine — for digging
  16. face — to point toward
  17. rock — a stone
  18. last — to go on
  19. spring — the season
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. last — final
  23. rock — music
  24. mine — an explosive

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