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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: track · bat · bass · board · season · land · stand · straw

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. land — ground
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. stand — to bear
  6. board — a committee
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. board — to get on
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. bass — low music
  11. track — to keep track
  12. land — a country
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. land — to come down
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. season — in sport
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. track — a song
  22. bat — the animal
  23. season — of the year
  24. bat — for baseball

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