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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: kid · hide · march · bat · rash · bass · last · bank

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  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. bass — the fish
  2. last — to go on
  3. march — the month
  4. bank — for money
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. rash — a series
  7. bass — low music
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. bank — for money
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. bat — the animal
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. rash — hasty
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child
  19. last — finally
  20. last — final
  21. march — the month
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. bank — of a river
  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