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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. game — wild animals
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. key — the most important part
  6. march — music
  7. key — in music
  8. drill — army training
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. drill — the tool
  11. rash — a series
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. race — humankind
  14. rash — hasty
  15. race — the arms race
  16. drill — a practice
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. march — the month
  22. race — a contest
  23. game — a match
  24. key — for a lock

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