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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: fine · last · chest · deal · mine · clip · bass · march

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bass — the fish
  5. clip — to cut
  6. march — the month
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. last — finally
  9. chest — a box
  10. clip — for paper
  11. fine — high quality
  12. last — to go on
  13. deal — to handle
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. march — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. last — final
  19. bass — low music
  20. clip — a video
  21. march — the month
  22. fine — all right
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. chest — of your body

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