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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 120 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: present · bass · rest · file · band · cap · field · mate

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. band — a music group
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. band — a ring
  5. bass — the fish
  6. mate — a friend
  7. file — a tool
  8. mate — to breed
  9. mate — a partner
  10. cap — a hat
  11. field — for sport
  12. file — a line of people
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — a subject
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. bass — low music
  17. present — there
  18. cap — a lid
  19. file — a document
  20. rest — a break
  21. present — a gift
  22. cap — of ice
  23. rest — what's left
  24. rest — what's left

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