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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. leaves — of a tree
  3. march — the month
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. cap — of ice
  7. perch — the fish
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. rest — what's left
  10. cap — a hat
  11. bass — low music
  12. field — for sport
  13. bass — the fish
  14. cap — a lid
  15. field — a subject
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. cold — an illness
  18. march — music
  19. rest — a break
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rest — what's left
  22. field — farmland
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. march — the month

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