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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: pop · shower · march · bass · hand · lie · spell · stem

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. bass — low music
  3. shower — to wash
  4. pop — music
  5. stem — to come from
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. spell — letters
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. hand — help
  11. march — music
  12. bass — the fish
  13. spell — a short time
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. pop — to visit
  16. spell — magic
  17. pop — soda
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. hand — in cards
  20. march — the month
  21. lie — to recline
  22. march — the month
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. shower — rain

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