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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 120 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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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 · tear · cold · bass · lash · face · track · stick

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. tear — from crying
  4. track — to keep track
  5. cold — an illness
  6. track — a song
  7. face — part of the head
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bass — low music
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. track — a path
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. face — to point toward
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. face — to confront
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. cold — not warm

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