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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 116 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: fan · present · bass · stock · wave · degree · club · prune

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. present — a gift
  3. bass — low music
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. club — for golf
  6. degree — from a university
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. stock — goods
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. prune — to trim
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. present — the time now
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. bass — the fish
  18. club — a group
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stock — shares
  22. prune — to trim
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. club — for dancing

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