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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 116 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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. band — a ring
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. cold — an illness
  5. march — music
  6. mate — to breed
  7. mate — a friend
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. march — the month
  10. mate — a partner
  11. stock — goods
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bass — low music
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bass — the fish
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. band — a music group
  20. stock — shares
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. cold — not warm
  23. mine — for digging
  24. march — the month

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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