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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. stand — to bear
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. lean — to bend
  5. march — music
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bass — low music
  8. lean — thin
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. file — a line of people
  12. march — the month
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. mine — for digging
  15. file — a document
  16. bat — the animal
  17. file — a tool
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. march — the month
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. coach — a trainer

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