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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 water is too ________________.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. rock — a stone
  3. march — the month
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. scale — size or range
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. current — of water
  8. march — music
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. mark — a trace
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rock — music
  13. scale — in music
  14. current — electric
  15. current — happening now
  16. cold — an illness
  17. march — the month
  18. mark — a grade

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