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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: straw · season · bass · pound · march · chest · hand · suit

  1. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. hand — help
  3. suit — clothes
  4. bass — low music
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. march — music
  7. hand — in cards
  8. pound — a weight
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. bass — the fish
  11. suit — in cards
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. march — the month
  16. chest — of your body
  17. season — in sport
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. season — of the year
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. march — the month

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