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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: firm · land · bass · degree · fork · leaves · ground · march

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. land — ground
  4. march — the month
  5. ground — a position
  6. firm — a company
  7. land — a country
  8. land — to come down
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. bass — the fish
  12. degree — from a university
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. degree — an amount
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed
  19. firm — decided
  20. fork — in a road
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. firm — steady

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