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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: trunk · face · bass · content · fork · degree · spring · bat

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. face — to point toward
  3. degree — from a university
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. bass — the fish
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bass — low music
  8. face — to confront
  9. spring — of water
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. spring — a coil
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. spring — the season
  14. degree — temperature
  15. content — the amount
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. fork — in a road
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. content — happy
  21. degree — an amount
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. face — part of the head
  24. fork — a garden tool

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