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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. bound — obliged
  7. spell — a short time
  8. scale — in music
  9. season — in sport
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. lean — to bend
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. lean — thin
  14. bound — tied together
  15. march — the month
  16. spell — magic
  17. kid — to tease
  18. chip — for betting
  19. bound — certain
  20. scale — size or range
  21. spell — letters
  22. season — of the year
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chip — to eat

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