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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: bound · bass · chest · march · fan · bulb · fall · season

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bound — certain
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. season — of the year
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. bass — low music
  11. bulb — for light
  12. chest — a box
  13. bound — obliged
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. bound — tied together
  16. fall — the season
  17. march — the month
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. season — in sport
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. march — the month
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bulb — for light
  24. march — music

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