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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  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. rock — music
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. present — there
  5. present — the time now
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. present — a gift
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — to tease
  10. mark — a grade
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. rock — a stone
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — money
  15. march — music
  16. march — the month
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. last — to go on
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. mark — a trace
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. rock — to move gently
  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