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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. bark — to shout
  3. face — to point toward
  4. game — a match
  5. root — of a word
  6. rule — a law
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. face — to confront
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. march — the month
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. root — the cause
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. game — wild animals
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. face — part of the head
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. root — of a plant
  22. march — the month
  23. rule — government
  24. jam — a tight spot

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