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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. ball — a dance
  3. bark — to shout
  4. march — the month
  5. last — finally
  6. last — final
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. wind — moving air
  10. march — music
  11. ball — a great time
  12. march — the month
  13. scale — size or range
  14. net — in sport
  15. net — for catching
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. net — after costs
  20. last — to go on
  21. stem — to come from
  22. scale — in music
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. ball — a round shape

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