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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. band — a ring
  3. march — music
  4. bass — the fish
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. last — finally
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. bat — the animal
  12. last — to go on
  13. band — a music group
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. march — the month
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. march — the month
  18. craft — boats
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. craft — a skill
  21. kick — in football
  22. rush — hurry
  23. bass — low music
  24. craft — a handicraft

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