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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. wound — an injury
  3. sharp — clever
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. staff — employees
  8. kid — child
  9. cold — not warm
  10. staff — employees
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. staff — a stick
  15. march — the month
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. kid — to tease
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. cold — an illness
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. perch — the fish
  23. march — the month
  24. wound — an injury

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