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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. drill — army training
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. drill — the tool
  6. scale — in music
  7. march — the month
  8. present — the time now
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. squash — the sport
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. march — the month
  14. present — a gift
  15. squash — to crush
  16. drill — a practice
  17. scale — size or range
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. mark — a grade
  20. capital — a city
  21. present — there
  22. capital — money
  23. mark — a trace
  24. squash — the vegetable

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