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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 116 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: rush · march · saw · wind · bat · press · last · bass

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. march — the month
  3. bass — low music
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. last — final
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. last — to go on
  8. press — a publisher
  9. wind — moving air
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. press — to push
  14. last — finally
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. press — newspapers
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rush — hurry
  20. bass — the fish
  21. march — music
  22. saw — the tool
  23. march — the month
  24. bat — for baseball

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