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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. fine — all right
  3. bat — the animal
  4. march — the month
  5. object — an aim
  6. ball — a great time
  7. object — to protest
  8. march — music
  9. object — a thing
  10. scale — in music
  11. branch — a division
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. march — the month
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. fine — high quality
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. ball — a dance

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