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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bat — the animal
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a music group
  8. rule — government
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. march — music
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bore — to tire
  18. bass — low music
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. bore — to drill
  22. march — the month
  23. band — a rubber band
  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