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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: stick · file · bowl · wake · rock · march · band · cold

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. march — music
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. rock — a stone
  5. file — a tool
  6. march — the month
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. cold — an illness
  10. rock — music
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. wake — a trail
  15. band — a music group
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. band — a ring
  23. file — a document
  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