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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: rest · last · tube · spring · file · stand · bass · game

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. last — final
  3. rest — what's left
  4. stand — to bear
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. spring — the season
  8. rest — a break
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. rest — what's left
  11. file — a tool
  12. last — to go on
  13. tube — the underground
  14. game — a match
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bass — low music
  17. spring — of water
  18. tube — a container
  19. game — wild animals
  20. spring — a coil
  21. last — finally
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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