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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. band — a music group
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. prune — to trim
  7. march — the month
  8. perch — the fish
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wound — an injury
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. pass — a permit
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. capital — money
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. wound — an injury
  19. prune — to trim
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. capital — a city
  22. band — a ring
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. pass — to spend time

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