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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: bass · file · clip · pit · march · suit · wax · chest

  1. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. pit — a hole
  3. march — the month
  4. clip — a video
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. bass — low music
  7. clip — to cut
  8. file — a line of people
  9. suit — to fit
  10. clip — for paper
  11. suit — in cards
  12. march — the month
  13. wax — to grow
  14. file — a tool
  15. chest — of your body
  16. file — a document
  17. pit — in a race
  18. bass — the fish
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. march — music
  24. chest — a box

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