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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: face · stem · tube · rest · bass · club · ground · spring

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. spring — of water
  3. bass — the fish
  4. club — for golf
  5. spring — the season
  6. ground — the earth
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. face — to point toward
  9. face — to confront
  10. stem — to come from
  11. club — for dancing
  12. ground — a position
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — what's left
  15. tube — the underground
  16. spring — a coil
  17. club — a group
  18. ground — crushed
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. rest — a break
  22. tube — a container
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. face — part of the head

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