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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. ball — a dance
  4. craft — boats
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. prune — to trim
  10. craft — a skill
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. march — the month
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. march — the month
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. prune — to trim
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. pound — a weight
  22. ball — a great time
  23. wound — an injury
  24. march — music

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