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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. row — a line
  3. craft — boats
  4. bass — the fish
  5. last — final
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. net — for catching
  9. field — farmland
  10. pass — a permit
  11. field — for sport
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. field — a subject
  14. net — after costs
  15. craft — a skill
  16. row — to paddle
  17. last — finally
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bass — low music
  20. net — in sport
  21. last — to go on
  22. hand — help
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. pass — to spend time

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