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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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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. pass — a permit
  4. march — music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. march — the month
  8. game — a match
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. game — wild animals
  11. bat — the animal
  12. march — the month
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. cold — not warm
  16. craft — a skill
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. craft — boats

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