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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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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: field · face · band · bass · arm · row · last · stick

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. field — for sport
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. last — final
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. row — to paddle
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. band — a ring
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. face — to point toward
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. row — a line
  19. face — part of the head
  20. face — to confront
  21. bass — low music
  22. last — finally
  23. bass — the fish
  24. band — a music group

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