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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  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. wind — to turn a key
  2. march — music
  3. mine — for digging
  4. wind — moving air
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. face — to point toward
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. march — the month
  9. bark — to shout
  10. swing — in golf
  11. face — to confront
  12. wind — moving air
  13. file — a line of people
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. swing — to play on
  19. file — a document
  20. swing — music
  21. face — part of the head
  22. vault — a safe
  23. file — a 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