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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: last · bass · land · march · pound · wind · rest · bound

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. rest — a break
  5. pound — a weight
  6. rest — what's left
  7. land — to come down
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bound — obliged
  11. land — a country
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. march — music
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bass — the fish
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rest — what's left
  19. march — the month
  20. bound — certain
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. last — to go on
  23. march — the month
  24. land — ground

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