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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — for digging
  5. stand — to bear
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — the fruit
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. march — the month
  13. last — final
  14. march — the month
  15. last — to go on
  16. rock — music
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. last — finally
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. rock — a stone
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. stand — on your feet

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