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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. pop — to visit
  3. march — the month
  4. stock — goods
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. stock — shares
  7. pop — music
  8. march — music
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — in golf
  11. band — a ring
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. swing — to play on
  16. rash — hasty
  17. game — wild animals
  18. pop — soda
  19. rash — a series
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. game — a match
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. band — a music group

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