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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: net · pop · cell · bass · spring · rock · last · wound

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cell — a phone
  3. last — to go on
  4. spring — of water
  5. last — final
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. last — finally
  8. pop — to visit
  9. net — in sport
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. pop — soda
  13. spring — the season
  14. bass — the fish
  15. pop — music
  16. spring — a coil
  17. rock — a stone
  18. net — after costs
  19. rock — music
  20. bass — low music
  21. cell — in biology
  22. wound — an injury
  23. net — for catching
  24. rock — to move gently

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