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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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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: file · bass · can · club · shower · leaves · march · snap

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. shower — to wash
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. bass — low music
  7. march — the month
  8. can — to be able to
  9. file — a line of people
  10. march — the month
  11. file — a document
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. snap — to click
  14. club — for dancing
  15. can — a tin
  16. bass — the fish
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. club — for golf
  19. club — a group
  20. file — a tool
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. shower — rain
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. march — music

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