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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: board · wound · band · bass · march · tear · date · rash

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. rash — hasty
  7. tear — to rip
  8. rash — a series
  9. band — a music group
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bass — low music
  12. wound — an injury
  13. band — a ring
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. bass — the fish
  16. march — music
  17. tear — from crying
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. board — to get on
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. date — the fruit
  24. wound — an injury

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