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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. present — the time now
  3. present — a gift
  4. march — music
  5. ball — a dance
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pit — a hole
  9. mug — a cup
  10. ground — a position
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. ground — crushed
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. tear — from crying
  15. present — there
  16. mug — to rob
  17. march — the month
  18. snap — to click
  19. tear — to rip
  20. pit — in a race
  21. ground — the earth
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. march — the month
  24. mug — a face

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