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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. march — music
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. present — a gift
  7. march — the month
  8. bass — low music
  9. mate — to breed
  10. lean — thin
  11. lean — to bend
  12. bass — the fish
  13. present — there
  14. face — part of the head
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. face — to confront
  17. file — a line of people
  18. mate — a friend
  19. file — a tool
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. present — the time now
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. file — a document
  24. mate — a partner

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