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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: straw · field · bass · ball · pitch · bat · march · rule

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — the fish
  3. march — music
  4. bass — low music
  5. field — for sport
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. rule — a law
  8. ball — a great time
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. march — the month
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. field — farmland
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. pitch — completely
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. rule — government
  17. march — the month
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. ball — a dance
  21. field — a subject
  22. bat — the animal
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. straw — a straw man

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