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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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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: toast · march · cell · bass · hide · pass · foot · tear

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. march — the month
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. bass — the fish
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. bass — low music
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cell — a phone
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. cell — in biology
  17. tear — to rip
  18. toast — bread
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. pass — a permit
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. tear — from crying
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. cell — in a prison

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