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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: bat · snap · bass · degree · coach · date · march · pass

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — temperature
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. date — the fruit
  7. march — the month
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. bass — the fish
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. snap — to click
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. bass — low music
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. march — music
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — the animal
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. pass — a permit
  22. degree — from a university
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. date — on the calendar

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