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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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468
Word bank
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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. snap — to click
  3. fork — in a road
  4. degree — an amount
  5. rash — a series
  6. prune — to trim
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. chest — a box
  9. rash — hasty
  10. march — the month
  11. degree — temperature
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. chest — of your body
  18. degree — from a university
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. march — the month
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. chest — of your body
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. mouse — for a computer

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