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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wind · pit · plane · spell · race · bass · sharp · march

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. spell — a short time
  4. march — the month
  5. sharp — clever
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. race — a contest
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. march — music
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bass — the fish
  14. plane — a tool
  15. race — humankind
  16. race — the arms race
  17. pit — a hole
  18. spell — letters
  19. march — the month
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pit — in a race
  24. spell — magic

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