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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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  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. drill — army training
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. drill — the tool
  4. face — to point toward
  5. march — the month
  6. pit — a hole
  7. face — part of the head
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. capital — money
  10. ground — crushed
  11. spring — of water
  12. ground — a position
  13. pit — in a race
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. spring — the season
  16. face — to confront
  17. ground — the earth
  18. spring — a coil
  19. march — music
  20. capital — a city
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. drill — a practice
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  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