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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. bass — low music
  5. rest — a break
  6. rest — what's left
  7. net — after costs
  8. field — a subject
  9. file — a tool
  10. bass — the fish
  11. file — a line of people
  12. march — the month
  13. pass — a permit
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. march — the month
  16. last — to go on
  17. file — a document
  18. rest — what's left
  19. march — music
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — for catching
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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