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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: march · fan · band · pass · sharp · hand · prune · bat

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. band — a music group
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. pass — a permit
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. prune — to trim
  13. hand — help
  14. band — a ring
  15. march — the month
  16. sharp — clever
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. hand — in cards
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. bat — the animal
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. band — a rubber band

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