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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 120 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. chest — of your body
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. ball — a dance
  5. march — music
  6. squash — to crush
  7. pop — soda
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. last — finally
  10. last — final
  11. drill — army training
  12. chest — a box
  13. drill — a practice
  14. last — to go on
  15. ball — a great time
  16. march — the month
  17. squash — the sport
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. chest — of your body
  21. pop — music
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. drill — the tool
  24. march — the month

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