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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: bear · bass · fall · tube · date · field · content · present

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bass — low music
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. tube — the underground
  6. bass — the fish
  7. tube — a container
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. fall — to drop
  10. content — the amount
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. fall — to drop
  13. field — for sport
  14. date — the fruit
  15. bear — the animal
  16. present — there
  17. present — a gift
  18. field — a subject
  19. present — the time now
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. bear — the animal
  23. content — happy
  24. field — farmland

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