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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · wind · march · chair · bass · vault

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. march — music
  5. vault — a safe
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. cold — not warm
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. march — the month
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bass — the fish
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. chair — a leader
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bass — low music
  18. wind — to turn a key

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