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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — the fish
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. season — of the year
  5. season — in sport
  6. drill — a practice
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. drill — army training
  9. march — the month
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. band — a music group
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. drill — the tool
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bass — low music
  18. pound — a weight
  19. march — the month
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. march — music
  22. band — a ring
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. season — to add flavour

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