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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — the month
  3. lean — thin
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. march — music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. lean — to bend
  18. bat — the animal

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