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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. scale — size or range
  7. scale — in music
  8. cell — in biology
  9. march — the month
  10. rash — hasty
  11. stock — shares
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. march — the month
  14. rush — hurry
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. rash — a series
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. stock — goods

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