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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. bass — the fish
  3. track — to keep track
  4. march — the month
  5. row — a line
  6. track — a path
  7. march — music
  8. row — to paddle
  9. bass — low music
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. press — to push
  13. mine — for digging
  14. ball — a great time
  15. press — newspapers
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. press — a publisher
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. ball — a dance
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — to come from
  24. march — the month

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