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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 120 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: land · bat · file · season · march · saw · pass · bulb

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. land — ground
  3. file — a tool
  4. land — a country
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. season — in sport
  10. bulb — for light
  11. march — the month
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bat — the animal
  14. season — of the year
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. land — to come down
  18. saw — the tool
  19. bulb — for light
  20. file — a document
  21. pass — a permit
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. file — a line of people

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