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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. court — of law
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. spring — a coil
  9. scale — size or range
  10. march — music
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. rash — a series
  13. track — a song
  14. march — the month
  15. track — a path
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. spring — the season
  18. court — of a king
  19. scale — in music
  20. march — the month
  21. spring — of water
  22. track — to keep track
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. court — for sport

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