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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. rush — hurry
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. game — wild animals
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. charge — in control
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. charge — electricity
  13. chest — a box
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. charge — a price
  17. wake — a trail
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. mine — for digging
  21. game — a match
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. chest — of your body

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