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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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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. kid — child
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month

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