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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: bass · clip · mine · mate · board · bore · march · field

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mate — a friend
  3. bass — the fish
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. bore — to tire
  8. field — farmland
  9. mate — a partner
  10. board — a committee
  11. bass — low music
  12. clip — to cut
  13. march — music
  14. bore — to drill
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. clip — for paper
  17. mate — to breed
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. clip — a video
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. board — to get on

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