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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. mug — a face
  3. swing — to play on
  4. board — to get on
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. kid — to tease
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. swing — music
  11. mug — to rob
  12. kid — child
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. board — a committee
  17. wind — moving air
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. swing — in golf
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. march — the month
  22. cold — an illness
  23. mug — a cup
  24. march — the month

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