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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. march — music
  3. pound — a weight
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. march — the month
  11. cold — not warm
  12. game — a match
  13. toast — bread
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. current — of water
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. cold — an illness
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. current — happening now
  21. game — wild animals
  22. march — the month
  23. current — electric
  24. pound — for dogs

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