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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 120 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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. squash — to crush
  3. file — a tool
  4. last — final
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. squash — the sport
  11. pitch — completely
  12. file — a document
  13. wind — moving air
  14. march — the month
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. file — a line of people
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. last — finally
  22. march — music
  23. last — to go on
  24. wind — moving air

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