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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 124 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. drill — a practice
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. rush — hurry
  8. march — the month
  9. sharp — clever
  10. last — final
  11. staff — employees
  12. last — to go on
  13. game — wild animals
  14. staff — employees
  15. last — finally
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. drill — army training
  21. march — music
  22. game — a match
  23. drill — the tool
  24. staff — a stick

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