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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. bank — for money
  3. bass — the fish
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. degree — from a university
  7. sharp — clever
  8. degree — temperature
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. march — music
  11. court — for sport
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. bass — low music
  14. march — the month
  15. rock — a stone
  16. rock — music
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. bank — of a river
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. mine — for digging
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. march — the month
  24. degree — an amount

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