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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. present — there
  3. wound — an injury
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — the earth
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. drill — a practice
  9. capital — money
  10. present — the time now
  11. spell — magic
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. spell — letters
  14. capital — a city
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. present — a gift
  18. drill — the tool
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — size or range
  21. spell — a short time
  22. drill — army training
  23. ground — crushed
  24. scale — in music

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