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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. march — music
  3. bat — the animal
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. season — in sport
  9. file — a document
  10. cell — in biology
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. file — a tool
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. march — the month
  15. game — wild animals
  16. perch — the fish
  17. game — a match
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — a phone
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. march — the month
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. season — of the year
  24. game — a kind of play

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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