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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. march — the month
  5. wound — an injury
  6. club — for dancing
  7. file — a line of people
  8. craft — a skill
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — clever
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. file — a document
  16. march — the month
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. club — a group
  19. craft — boats
  20. wound — an injury
  21. file — a tool
  22. hand — in cards
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. club — for golf

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