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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: field · cabinet · march · bass · chip · row · clip · sharp

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — low music
  3. chip — for betting
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. chip — to eat
  6. march — music
  7. field — for sport
  8. row — to paddle
  9. bass — the fish
  10. row — a line
  11. clip — to cut
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. field — farmland
  14. sharp — clever
  15. clip — a video
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. clip — for paper
  20. march — the month
  21. field — a subject
  22. march — the month
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. row — a quarrel

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