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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. cold — an illness
  6. file — a line of people
  7. march — the month
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. file — a tool
  10. pit — a hole
  11. bass — the fish
  12. last — to go on
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. dip — to sink
  15. last — finally
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pit — in a race
  21. wind — moving air
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. file — a document
  24. last — final

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