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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. ground — a position
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bark — to shout
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. mine — for digging
  14. ground — the earth
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. bat — the animal
  18. march — the month
  19. ground — crushed
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. march — the month

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