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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. track — a song
  4. mate — a friend
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mate — to breed
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. mate — a partner
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. track — to keep track
  17. sharp — clever
  18. march — the month
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. cold — an illness
  21. track — a path
  22. march — the month
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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