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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. shower — rain
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. march — the month
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. squash — the sport
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. bat — the animal
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. fine — high quality
  17. march — the month
  18. mine — for digging
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. shower — to wash
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. fine — all right
  23. squash — to crush
  24. cold — not warm

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