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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 116 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: net · kid · cell · bass · chair · mug · march · nail

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. mug — to rob
  3. kid — to tease
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. net — for catching
  6. march — the month
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. march — the month
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. kid — child
  11. chair — a leader
  12. bass — low music
  13. bass — the fish
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. mug — a face
  16. net — after costs
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. cell — in biology
  19. mug — a cup
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — a phone
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. net — in sport

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