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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 116 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: bass · ground · spring · face · bear · pop · last · straw

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. face — to confront
  3. spring — the season
  4. face — part of the head
  5. last — to go on
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. spring — a coil
  9. ground — a position
  10. pop — to visit
  11. pop — soda
  12. ground — crushed
  13. spring — of water
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. face — to point toward
  16. last — finally
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bass — the fish
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. last — final
  22. pop — music
  23. ground — the earth
  24. bass — low music

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