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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.

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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: bat · mate · tear · dip · field · bass · band · season

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. field — farmland
  3. mate — a friend
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bat — the animal
  9. band — a ring
  10. season — of the year
  11. tear — from crying
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. dip — to sink
  14. mate — to breed
  15. band — a music group
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. field — a subject
  19. bass — low music
  20. tear — from crying
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. season — in sport
  23. mate — a partner
  24. field — for sport

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