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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
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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: game · sharp · rash · clip · bay · drill · bass · march

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. drill — the tool
  4. bass — low music
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. march — the month
  9. drill — a practice
  10. game — a match
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. rash — a series
  13. drill — army training
  14. clip — a video
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. clip — for paper
  17. march — music
  18. sharp — clever
  19. game — wild animals
  20. march — the month
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bass — the fish
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. game — a kind of play

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