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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. spell — letters
  3. stand — to bear
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. march — the month
  9. cell — in biology
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wind — moving air
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. march — the month
  17. spell — magic
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. spell — a short time
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. stand — on your feet

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