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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. march — the month
  6. last — finally
  7. kid — to tease
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. mine — for digging
  10. squash — the sport
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. cold — an illness
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. kid — child
  22. last — final
  23. squash — to crush
  24. last — to go on

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