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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. bass — the fish
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. march — the month
  8. bat — the animal
  9. march — the month
  10. bass — low music
  11. pound — a weight
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. hand — in cards
  15. march — music
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — for sport

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