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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 · sharp · bass · band · net · wound · snap · bank

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bank — for money
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. bank — of a river
  5. wound — an injury
  6. net — in sport
  7. wound — an injury
  8. march — the month
  9. bass — low music
  10. net — for catching
  11. snap — to click
  12. march — the month
  13. bass — the fish
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. net — after costs
  18. march — music
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. band — a ring
  23. bank — for money
  24. sharp — clever

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