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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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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: wind · band · foot · march · cold · root · season · bass

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. season — of the year
  3. wind — moving air
  4. season — in sport
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. foot — a measure
  7. march — music
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. root — of a word
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. bass — low music
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. root — the cause
  16. wind — moving air
  17. root — of a plant
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. band — a music group
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. band — a ring
  24. cold — not warm

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