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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. present — a gift
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. pop — to visit
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. plane — a tool
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. march — the month
  12. pop — soda
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. march — the month
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. shower — to wash
  19. chest — of your body
  20. present — the time now
  21. shower — rain
  22. chest — a box
  23. pop — music
  24. present — there

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