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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 · bowl · kid · hide · fan · march · wake · band

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. last — finally
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. wake — a trail
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. last — to go on
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. march — the month
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. last — final
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. band — a ring
  18. march — the month
  19. kid — to tease
  20. march — music
  21. band — a music group
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. kid — child
  24. hide — to keep secret

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