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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 116 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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. net — for catching
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. net — after costs
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. chair — a leader
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. cold — an illness
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. stand — to bear
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. march — the month
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cold — not warm
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. net — in sport
  24. march — the month

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