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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. mark — a grade
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. file — a tool
  6. march — the month
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. file — a document
  9. pit — in a race
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kick — in football
  12. mark — a trace
  13. pit — a hole
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. spring — the season
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. spring — of water
  19. file — a line of people
  20. march — music
  21. spring — a coil
  22. shower — to wash
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. shower — rain

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