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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 · field · last · kid · pound · roll · cabinet · bass

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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. field — for sport
  4. bass — low music
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. field — farmland
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. kid — to tease
  13. face — part of the head
  14. field — a subject
  15. last — to go on
  16. pound — a weight
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. roll — a cake
  19. face — to confront
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. roll — a list
  22. kid — child
  23. face — to point toward
  24. last — finally

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