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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. march — music
  3. sharp — clever
  4. plane — a tool
  5. wound — an injury
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. kid — to tease
  8. march — the month
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. rush — hurry
  13. pop — soda
  14. pop — to visit
  15. row — to paddle
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. wound — an injury
  19. march — the month
  20. row — a line
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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