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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bass — the fish
  3. march — the month
  4. rash — hasty
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — in sport
  7. track — to keep track
  8. tear — from crying
  9. march — the month
  10. rock — a stone
  11. rock — music
  12. march — music
  13. bass — low music
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. track — a path
  19. net — after costs
  20. track — a song
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. game — wild animals
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — a series

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