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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. fine — all right
  3. bat — the animal
  4. march — the month
  5. rule — a law
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. perch — the fish
  9. fine — high quality
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. march — the month
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. squash — to crush
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. rule — government
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. kid — to tease
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. squash — the sport
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. kid — child

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