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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. kid — child
  3. file — a line of people
  4. march — music
  5. last — finally
  6. fall — to drop
  7. file — a tool
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. bear — the animal
  10. march — the month
  11. fall — to drop
  12. ball — a dance
  13. last — final
  14. season — in sport
  15. last — to go on
  16. kid — to tease
  17. season — of the year
  18. fall — the season
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. march — the month
  21. file — a document
  22. bear — the animal
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. bear — to put up with

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