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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. wind — moving air
  3. march — music
  4. mug — a cup
  5. spell — letters
  6. wind — moving air
  7. mug — a face
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. rest — what's left
  10. march — the month
  11. rest — a break
  12. spell — a short time
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. rest — what's left
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. spell — magic
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cell — a phone
  19. scale — size or range
  20. march — the month
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. mug — to rob
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — in a prison

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