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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. march — music
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. rest — what's left
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. last — final
  10. file — a tool
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. last — to go on
  13. drill — the tool
  14. rest — what's left
  15. march — the month
  16. drill — a practice
  17. date — the fruit
  18. march — the month
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. last — finally
  23. file — a document
  24. rest — a break

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