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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: bass · suit · march · straw · mark · wound · file · stick

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. suit — to fit
  4. suit — in cards
  5. march — the month
  6. file — a tool
  7. suit — clothes
  8. mark — a trace
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. wound — an injury
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. wound — an injury
  13. mark — a grade
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. march — the month
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. file — a document
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. bass — the fish
  23. march — music
  24. file — a line of people

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