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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. file — a line of people
  7. row — a line
  8. chest — of your body
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hand — help
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. fine — high quality
  14. file — a tool
  15. fine — all right
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. row — to paddle
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. march — the month
  22. file — a document
  23. pass — a permit
  24. chest — a box

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