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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 120 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. stand — to bear
  3. game — wild animals
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. wake — a trail
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mark — a trace
  13. game — a match
  14. fork — in a road
  15. mark — a grade
  16. march — the month
  17. bass — the fish
  18. chest — a box
  19. march — music
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. march — the month
  24. chest — of your body

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