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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: hand · bass · last · land · file · saw · season · club

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. club — for golf
  3. file — a line of people
  4. season — in sport
  5. land — ground
  6. file — a tool
  7. last — finally
  8. saw — the tool
  9. club — for dancing
  10. last — final
  11. bass — low music
  12. land — to come down
  13. saw — the tool
  14. bass — the fish
  15. hand — help
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. club — a group
  20. file — a document
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. land — a country
  23. last — to go on
  24. hand — in cards

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