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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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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: row · fall · ball · bass · field · tear · band · root

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. fall — to drop
  3. ball — a dance
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. fall — to drop
  6. band — a ring
  7. root — of a plant
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bass — low music
  10. root — of a word
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — for sport
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. row — a line
  15. ball — a great time
  16. root — the cause
  17. row — to paddle
  18. field — farmland
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. bass — the fish
  21. fall — the season
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

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