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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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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: hand · sharp · cold · dip · march · board · bass · wound

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. hand — help
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. march — music
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. march — the month
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. sharp — clever
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cold — an illness
  11. board — a committee
  12. bass — low music
  13. wound — an injury
  14. march — the month
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bass — the fish
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. cold — not warm
  22. dip — to sink
  23. board — to get on
  24. board — a flat piece

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