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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 124 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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. cell — in biology
  3. march — music
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. race — a contest
  6. board — to get on
  7. race — humankind
  8. pass — a permit
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. spring — the season
  11. rash — a series
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. march — the month
  15. rash — hasty
  16. cell — a phone
  17. spring — of water
  18. march — the month
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. board — a committee
  21. spring — a coil
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bass — the fish
  24. race — the arms race

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