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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. cold — not warm
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. club — for dancing
  6. march — music
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a city
  10. fall — the season
  11. club — for golf
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. bass — low music
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. fall — to drop
  18. march — the month
  19. club — a group
  20. fall — to drop
  21. march — the month
  22. cold — an illness
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. field — for sport

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